A woman has been arrested for arson in connection with the fire that broke out at a hijacked building in the central business district (CBD) of Johannesburg. The incident resulted in the deaths of two people and left several others injured.
The city manager of Joburg, Floyd Brink, provided details about the arrest and the ongoing investigation. Speaking to newsmen at the scene, Brink confirmed that an unidentified woman had been apprehended and was now in the custody of the South African Police Service (Saps).
He stated, “It does seem at this point the fire was started by a specific person… it’s a female. We have handed over [her] to Saps [and] we are now waiting for the investigations to unfold.”
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Brink further mentioned that the metropolitan municipality’s own forensic team was deployed to inspect the building. He stated, “It’s now really up to Saps to be able to indicate to us exactly from that side in terms of the fire.
But what we can indicate to you is that it took about 10 minutes or so for our teams to be on site in order for them to start extinguishing the fire.” The city’s camera systems detected the blaze, as no calls were received regarding the incident.
Confirming that the building was hijacked, Brink acknowledged the ongoing problem of bad buildings in the City of Johannesburg. However, he emphasized that the city was actively working to address this issue by developing a long-term and sustainable plan for residents.
According to Johannesburg Emergency Services (EMS), the fire resulted in the deaths of two individuals. Additionally, four people were transported to healthcare facilities for further medical care.
Some residents sustained minor injuries while escaping the burning building. Xolile Khumalo, the spokesperson for Joburg EMS, provided more information about the rescue operations.
He stated, “Two people jumped from the second floor, and three people were rescued from the balcony. Two people were found dead as search and rescue operations continued at the building fire. Four people have been transported to healthcare facilities for further medical care.”
Khumalo also mentioned that the fire spread rapidly throughout the two-story building due to the combustible materials used. The emergency services are still actively working to extinguish the fire and conduct search and rescue operations.
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