Johannesburg Fire: Sister Desperately Searches for Brother Who Allegedly Jumped Out of Burning Building in CBD

• A desperate KwaZulu-Natal father of five tried to escape the Johannesburg blaze by leaping from the building
• His sister is searching for him as witnesses don't know what happened after he jumped for his life
• The cause of the fire is still unknown and the death toll has risen to 73, including children and babies

JOHANNESBURG - A father of five from KwaZulu-Natal allegedly jumped out of the Johannesburg CBD building gutted by a fire on Thursday, 31 August.

This is what witnesses told the man's sister, Ethel Jack when she went looking for him when news of the deadly blaze spread.

Sister searches for brother in Johannesburg blaze aftermath

Ethel is not sure what happened to Sihle Kenneth Dube after he brazenly tried to escape the blaze.

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Ethel told TimesLIVE that Dube moved to Johannesburg to find work in the inner city. She said he lived on the third floor at the far end of the hijacked building.

While Dube is a qualified lawyer who worked for Unilever, he could not afford a better place to stay. Describing the conditions of the building, Ethel said it was a dirty and unhealthy place.

Joburg building blaze death toll rises

The deadly fire has claimed at least 73 lives, including babies and young children. The death toll is still expected to climb.

The cause of the fire is still unknown, but survivors have recounted how they woke up to the sounds of people screaming.

One resident who lived in a shack on the ground floor speculated that the fire was started by a neighbour who forgot to blow his candle when he went to sleep, News24 reported.

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Johannesburg fire: Desperate mother frantically searches for daughter as death toll of blaze climbs to 73

South Africans weigh in on the Joburg fire

Below are some comments:

@BazilSolomon said:

"Our condolences and prayers are with families."

@___QueenBigB added:

"This is heartbreaking."

@cyntee_cynthia commented:

"Yuuu, this is painful."

@zakes_ngidi mourned:

"This made me very sad. Condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones."

@kamoh_M remarked:

"The trauma sustained by poor people is often insurmountable. On top of breaking their backs to make ends meet, tragedies like these happen, and they have to deal."

@Dlombo6 grieved:

"I can't stop crying. This is so heartbreaking."

Desperate mother searches for daughter

In another story, Briefly News reported that a devastated mother is clinging to hope that her 24-year-old daughter is alive after the Johannesburg CBD building she lives in was gutted by a fire in the early hours of Thursday, 31 August.

Treasurelee Shuping rushed to the scene after she received word that a blaze had razed the five-story building. Her daughter, Matshidiso Zanele, had allegedly been living in the hijacked building for over a year.

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Speaking to TimesLIVE, Shuping revealed that the building was in a deplorable state and not fit for people to live in. She tried to get Zanele to move back home, but the woman refused.

Source: Briefly News