A building fire in Johannesburg kills at least 73 people, many of them homeless
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00:00 Dozens of people were killed and dozens of others were injured as a fire ripped through
00:04 this building in Johannesburg.
00:07 Emergency services in the city said the fire broke out in the early hours of Thursday morning
00:12 in a building occupied by homeless people.
00:15 It is believed as many as 200 people were living in the building.
00:19 Firefighters evacuated survivors and said there were no initial indications of the cause
00:23 of the fire in what was an abandoned building.
00:26 "At this stage we don't know what might be the cause of the fire incident.
00:33 But since it's a hijacked building or an abandoned building, there might be two options here.
00:39 It might be illegal connection or it might be other heating devices which they are using
00:44 because we are told that at the time when the fire started they didn't have electricity."
00:49 The building is located in a deprived area of what used to be the business district of
00:54 Johannesburg.
00:55 Local occupation of disused buildings in the city center is widespread, with many said
01:00 to be under the control of criminal syndicates who collect rent from occupants.