- In the heart of Johannesburg, South Africa, a five-story skyscraper caught fire, killing hundreds of people. Around 1:30 a.m. local time, the fire was believed to have begun as firemen were being sent to the area. By Thursday afternoon, 74 individuals, including 12 kids, had been officially pronounced dead. 61 more persons suffered injuries, 17 of them are still hospitalized. Investigations are being done to try to determine what started the fire.
- According to reports, the victims include migrants from all across Africa who were residing in an unofficial community within the previously abandoned structure. The structure housed at least 200 households in all at the time of the fire, according to investigators. The facility, which is city-owned, was once leased to the provincial Department of Social Development, who utilized it as a refuge for women fleeing domestic abuse.
- Authorities searched the property in October 2019 and detained around 140 foreign nationals. Additionally, a suspect was detained and accused with unlawfully obtaining rent from the building’s occupants. Authorities are coordinating emergency housing due to worries that people who escaped the fire would be left without a place to live. Later on Thursday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the scene in Johannesburg and called the fatal fire “unprecedented” and “a tragedy.”