A devastating fire blazed through an apartment building in Johannesburg, South Africa, killing at least 73 people and injuring dozens of others.
Search-and-rescue teams are still searching “the scene more than 12 hours after the blaze broke out at around 1 a.m.,” The Associated Press reported.
“Over 20 years in the service, I’ve never come across something like this,” Robert Mulaudzi, Emergency Services Management spokesperson, told AP.
At least seven of the victims who died were children, NBC News reported.
The abandoned building was occupied largely by around 200 people with nowhere else to go — homeless people and migrants from other African countries, according to NBC News. It was set up as “an informal settlement” with people crowded into rooms and obstacles in the way of escape for many residents.
What caused the Johannesburg apartment building fire?
Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire, but initial findings say that it began on the ground floor. “The building was one of more than 600 derelict structures in Johannesburg that are illegally occupied,” The New York Times reported.
During winter months, residents will cook on paraffin stoves or light fires in metal drums using wood and other scavenged items to stay warm in the building when the electricity goes out, according to BBC.
“People are occupying these buildings because there’s nowhere else where they can access the inner city,” Khululiwe Bhengu, senior attorney with nonprofit Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa, told the Times.