By Ebi Kesiena
A survivor of last week’s Marshalltown building fire tragedy, where 77 people lost their lives, said that on the night of the tragedy, the gates on the first three floors of the building were locked.
Phakamani Tshikila recalled how people on the first, second and third floors were forced to jump out of windows as certain gates in the buildings were locked for security reasons.
Heritage Times HT recalls that fire ripped through the five-storey hijacked building on Albert Street in the early hours of Thursday morning last week.
Standing outside a temporary shelter at the Hofland Recreation Centre in Bezuidenhout Valley, Tshikila recalled the horrors of how people were trapped inside the building.
“When I was asking those staying at third floor, first floor, second floor why people got burnt inside, they said the gates were locked on both sides, because the passage has two gates, that’s why they had to jump.”
Tshikila is one of hundreds of displaced people who have been offered temporary shelter by the city.
However, on Monday, City of Joburg Speaker Colleen Makhubele said that the city met with provincial and national government to discuss the temporary shelters.
“It’s temporary, that’s what we know but for how long? That will be determined by some of the processes we need to go through.” He said.
Local media reports that about 280 displaced people are being accommodated at three shelters across the city.
Gauteng (Province in South Africa), Premier Panyaza Lesufi explained that a commission has been set up to investigate the prevalence of hijacked buildings in Johannesburg and what caused the fatal fire, and who should be held accountable for the tragedy.
