At least 12 of the victims were children, authorities said.
Homeless South Africans, poor foreign migrants and others who found themselves marginalised in a city often referred to as Africa’s richest but which has deep social problems inhabited the downtown building.The number of injured people admitted to hospital because of the fire also increased to 88, according to a provincial health official.
“Even if the family were to come, there is no way of them being able to identify that body,” Mr Modiba said. Many witnesses said in the immediate aftermath of the fire that they were separated from family members in the chaos of escaping the inferno. Emergency workers and witnesses painted a picture of a building full of shacks and other temporary structures and where multiple families were crammed into rooms.Local government officials said people were trapped inside the building because security gates were locked and there were no proper fire escapes.
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