Fire kills two children in locked Hillbrow flats

A blaze ripped through a dilapidated building in Johannesburg yesterday killing two children aged under 10 who were locked in a flat, said emergency workers.

Firefighters responding to a fire at the Florence Nightingale block of flats in Hillbrow “discovered two minors were burnt beyond recognition”.

They added: “The minors who are suspected to be between the ages of five and seven years old were left alone in the locked apartment.”

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They said the fire broke out at an “old and abandoned” multistorey building. It is one of several structures that is unfit for habitation in what used to be the business district of South Africa’s economic hub.

In recent decades, companies have moved out of the crime-ridden Hillbrow area to the northern suburbs. Illegal occupation of disused buildings in the inner city is a widespread practice.

Many of these buildings are said to be under the control of criminal syndicates that collect rent from occupants.

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Police have launched an investigation into the cause of the fire, which started on the first floor of the building before spreading to a floor above.