ANA reports that three firefighters have been confirmed dead and 13 staff members were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation after a fire broke out at a 23-story building which houses two government departments in Joburg’s CBD.
Witnesses said the fire broke out on the top floor of the building, which houses the department of human settlements as well as the Bank of Lisbon and which is across the road from the ANC’s Luthuli House headquarters, at about 10.30am on Wednesday. Earlier, onlookers were horrified when one firefighter fell to his death from the top floors of the burning building. Gauteng MEC for Infrastructure Development Jacob Mamabolo confirmed three firemen died in the rescue attempt. He indicated that a recent report noted that only 21% of the building complied with safely regulations. The City of Johannesburg MMC for safety, Michael Sun, said the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng was calling for a full investigation into the events that led to the fire. Commenting on the tragedy, Jack Bloom, the DA spokesperson on health on Gauteng, said he had previously asked the provincial government about the safety of the workers in the building, but his pleas had fallen on deaf ears. Dr Sipho Sinabe, acting deputy director-general for HR at Gauteng Health, said: “We don’t know what was the cause of the fire.”
- Read this report in full at The Citizen
- Read too, Eyewitness describes the moments before firefighter fell to his death from burning Joburg building, at Timeslive
- And also, Bodies of three firefighters removed from building that caught alight in Joburg CBD, at Timeslive
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page