APA-Pretoria (South Africa) South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has condoled the families of the 74 victims of a fire that gutted a five-storey building in Johannesburg in the early hours of Thursday.
Ramaphosa, who visited the scene of the accident Thursday evening, expressed sadness at the loss of life inflicted by the fire in the residential building in Marshalltown area of the city.
“This is a great tragedy felt by families whose loved ones perished in this awful manner. Our hearts go out to every person affected by this event,” Ramaphosa said.
He appealed to the emergency services, other entities of government and to community-based organisations to reach out to survivors to help restore people’s physical and psychological well-being and offer all material help residents might need.
Ramaphosa said he hoped the ongoing investigations into the fire would enable communities and authorities to prevent a repeat of such a tragedy – and to bring to book any culpable parties.
The cause of the fire is still unknown.
NM/jn/APA