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A firefighter after the fire in a high-rise building with 76 dead
Photo: MICHELE SPATARI / AFP
Police in the South African metropolis of Johannesburg have arrested a suspect over a major fire that left 76 dead, almost five months after the fire.
Before an investigative commission to determine the cause of the fire, the 29-year-old admitted that he was partly responsible for setting the fire in the five-story building in the central district of Marshalltown, police spokesman Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said in a statement.
The suspect should appear in court “soon” on charges of arson, 76 counts of murder and 120 counts of attempted murder, said Nevhuhulwi.
He did not provide any further details.
The building, known as the “Usindiso” house, was officially empty at the time of the fire in the early morning of August 31, 2023, but hundreds of people were actually living there illegally.
Twelve children also died in the flames.
According to the station, the exact cause of the fire has not yet been clarified.
Investigators initially suspected that candles or a cooking fire could have caused the fire, as there is no power supply in such buildings.
The fire catastrophe has sparked a discussion about the abandoned houses and the dangers they pose.
Johannesburg – a scene of tragic events
The city center of Johannesburg is considered run-down and dangerous.
Companies and businesses moved to surrounding districts many years ago due to the high crime rate.
This means that numerous buildings in the city center are empty, many of which are occupied by homeless people.
Property owners there have long since stopped maintaining their properties, whose market and rental prices have fallen.
In the recent past, the city of 5.6 million inhabitants has repeatedly been the scene of momentous events that regularly make it into the world news.
It was only in July, a few weeks before the high-rise fire, that an explosion in underground gas pipes tore up entire streets and cars flew through the air like something out of a disaster movie (SPIEGEL author Bartholomäus Grill wrote down his observations here).
bam/dpa