A fire that broke out today in a Johannesburg CBD building has killed at least seven people, according to the city’s EMS.
The number of fatalities from this morning building fire in the Joburg CBD has increased to seven. Pics by @MarykeVermaak pic.twitter.com/PypG0rCXjI
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— City of Joburg EMS (@CityofJoburgEMS) July 5, 2017
Fire at Cape York building in Joburg CBD has been extinguished, sadly 1 person has died trying to escape the fire. Pics by @moses_moyo pic.twitter.com/piDETyZoc1
— City of Joburg EMS (@CityofJoburgEMS) July 5, 2017
The fire, which burnt through the Cape York building on the corner of Jeppe and Nugget Streets in central Johannesburg, was extinguished around 10am.
“Over 50 people” were rescued from the building’s roof, while a number was rescued from the hospital. Seven people died though, including one who leapt from the building.
A number of bystanders posted images and video of the fire to social media this morning, making #JHBFire one of the more commonly used hashtags of the day.
Building on fire in Johannesburg cbd.#Joburgfire pic.twitter.com/3j60vnHgGN
— Chanel tshena (@Chanel_T1) July 5, 2017
Twitter users called on big businesses to donate to the victims as they did for those affected by the Knysna fire.
Can we have banks to donate something for the Victims #JHBFire
— Theo (@mandulie2) July 5, 2017
Hey @Makro_SA are you donating to the #JHBFire victims too?
— Clayton Swanepoel (@Clayton_JS) July 5, 2017
#jhbfire Hoping to see donation boxes all over just like they did for #knysnafire pic.twitter.com/ZGEI5amyOH
— Bring Back Our Land (@esethu_sn) July 5, 2017
Remarkably, this isn’t the first time this year we’ve seen the hashtag #JHBFire trend this year.
This past weekend the Gauteng Premier David Makhura’s central Johannesburg office was also engulfed in flames.
More pictures from the #JHBFire which has affected GP Premier David #Makhura‘s office building pic.twitter.com/6RVVx6t9Pw
— Karishma Dipa (@Karishma_Dipa) June 30, 2017
Another fire broke out at the BraamPark office complex in Braamfontein in April 2017.
Feature image: City of Johannesburg EMS (@CityofJoburgEMS) via Twitter
