In the statement made by the Gauteng State Health Department, it was announced that efforts are underway to identify 62 of those who lost their lives in the fire that broke out in a 5-storey building in Johannesburg’s Marshalltown district.
According to the statement, 69 families applied to identify the corpses of their relatives, whom they thought lost in the fire. Of these, only 10 families were able to identify 12 people in total.
In the statement, it was shared that DNA samples taken from the deceased were compared with those of the applicant’s family members, and that their identities were being determined.
The government is preparing to take back 1,260 illicitly leased public buildings.
The fact that the place where the fire broke out was an empty public building rented by the gangs that occupied this place brought the issue of “illegal building rental” to the agenda.
In the statement made by the Ministry of Public Works and Infrastructure, it was stated that 1260 of 29 thousand public buildings registered across the country were occupied.
In the statement, it was announced that an operation will be started to take back these buildings.
Marshalltown fire
In the Marshalltown neighborhood of downtown Johannesburg, 74 people, including 12 children, were killed in a fire that broke out in the early hours of 31 August in a five-story building where approximately 500 people live.
88 people injured in the fire were taken to hospitals.
In addition to South Africans, many foreign nationals lived in the burning building.