Two die as fire engulfs ‘informal settlement’ building in Joburg CBD, woman arrested

Onlookers at the scene of a deadly fire that engulfed a building on the corner of Commissioner and Nugget streets in the Johannesburg CBD on 21 January 2024. (Photo: Gallo Images / Fani Mahuntsi)

By Takudzwa Pongweni

21 Jan 2024

Two people died, four others were rushed to hospital on the early hours of Sunday and at least 15 people were rescued after a residential building caught fire on the corner of Commissioner and Nugget streets in Johannesburg’s CBD.

In the early hours of Sunday, Johannesburg’s Emergency Management Services (EMS) battled to douse a fire that engulfed a residential building in the city’s CBD.

There are allegations that the fire was started with paraffin by a woman who was fighting with her partner.

joburg cbd fire Emergency personnel after attending to a fire that killed two people in a building on the corner of Commissioner and Nugget streets in Johannesburg on 21 January 2024. (Photo: Gallo Images / Fani Mahuntsi)

“A 30-year-old woman has been arrested and is expected to appear before Johannesburg Magistrates’ court on 22 January 2024 on a charge of murder. Police investigations continue,” said Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi of the SA Police Service.

EMS spokesperson Nana Radebe-Kgiba said two people died and four others were rushed to hospital after the building, on the corner of Commissioner and Nugget streets, caught fire.

“People were jumping off from the second floor of the building to the first floor. Four people were taken to nearby healthcare facilities and 15 people were rescued from the roof and the balconies on the first and second floor,” she said.

joburg cbd fire Onlookers at the scene of a deadly fire that engulfed a building on the corner of Commissioner and Nugget streets in the Johannesburg CBD on 21 January 2024. (Photo: Gallo Images / Fani Mahuntsi)

The fire spread rapidly in the two-storey building because of the combustible materials used in constructing internal partitions and living areas.

“Inside, we can confirm that it is another informal settlement that we are dealing with. There are combustible materials that were used to make divisions within the building,” she said.

“Some of [the residents] say they saw a lady quarrelling with her partner and she had taken paraffin and started to burn the unit of her partner but SAPS handled the situation and the lady was taken by SAPS,” she said.

Radebe-Kgiba said at this stage, it was difficult to determine how many people had been affected by the fire.

“Management was still busy with the families and it is [up to] 75 families, and between 150 to 200 people,” she said. DM

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