National
Firefighters confirmed dead following Jhb building fire─── 15:37 Wed, 05 Sep 2018
Three firefighters have died after battling a blaze in a building belonging to the Gauteng government.
Their deaths were confirmed by the Gauteng MEC for Infrastructure Development, Jacob Mamabolo, at a media briefing on Wednesday afternoon.
Two firefighters are believed to have succumbed to their injuries after they got trapped in the building, while another firefighter fell to his death while battling the blaze. In total 13 people were taken to hospital for treatment.
The fire, allegedly caused by an electrical fault, broke out on the 23rd floor of the building which is shared by the departments of Health, Human Settlements and Co-operative Governance.
All workers within the building were evacuated.
Mambolo says everyone will stay home until they can be relocated.
"The building does not comply with occupational health and safety, was not compliant with the basic regulations," he told the briefing.
