Marshalltown building fire survivor says gates on first 3 floors were locked
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.
A fire ripped through the five-storey hijacked building on Albert Street in the early hours of Thursday morning.
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 was one of hundreds of displaced people who have been offered temporary shelter by the city.
City of Joburg Speaker Colleen Makhubele said that the city met with provincial and national government on Monday 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.”
About 280 displaced people are being accommodated at three shelters across the city.
-EWN
In other news – VIDEO: Nadia Nakai twerks for late AKA
Popular South African rapper and media personality, Nadia Nakai sends her late boyfriend AKA a message with an impressive twerk dance. It’s been a few tough months for Nadia as she lost her boyfriend, AKA.
Since then, she had been mourning and did not have much time to relax and free herself. It seemed now was the time for Nadia to enjoy her life without AKA and make him proud. A few days ago, Nadia had been with Kairo, AKA’s daughter, teaching her to sing and record in the studio. Read More
