Johannesburg apartment fire

Video. WATCH: Dozens die in Johannesburg apartment building fire

At least 73 people have died in a fire which tore through a rundown apartment building in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Thursday. 

At least 73 people have died in a fire which tore through a rundown apartment building in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Thursday. 

The building was mainly occupied by homeless people and squatters. Some threw babies out of third-storey windows to try to save them. 

At least seven of the victims were children, the youngest a one-year-old.

More than 50 people were injured and emergency services officials warned that the death toll could still rise as they continued to search the scene more than 12 hours after the blaze which broke out at around 1 am.

The building was reportedly owned by the city of Johannesburg and is considered a heritage site, but was not being maintained by the city. It was once the site of South Africa’s notorious “pass” office, which controlled the movement of Black people under apartheid.

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