PHOTOS: More Than 60 Confirmed Dead As Fire Engulfs Five-Story Building In South Africa

A fire that engulfed a five-storey building killed more than 60 people including children in central Johannesburg on Thursday, the South African city’s emergency services said.

Another 43 were injured, some suffering from smoke inhalation, and were taken for treatment at local hospitals, Emergency Management Services spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said.

“The death toll is at 64…(including) seven children,” Emergency Management Services spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said, with some left burned beyond recognition.

The youngest victim was aged less than two years old, he said.

Firefighters at the scene had put out the flames and search and recovery operations were ongoing.

“We are moving floor by floor conducting these body recoveries,” Mulaudzi told local broadcaster ENCA.

An AFP reporter at the scene said emergency services were continuing to bring charred bodies out of the building, laying them down under blankets and sheets on the street outside.

“It is indeed a sad day for the city of Johannesburg… over 20 years in the service, I’ve never come across something like this,” Mulaudzi said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the blaze, which broke out overnight

But according to Mgcini Tshwaku, a member of the city’s mayoral committee in charge of public safety, the candles used for lighting inside the structure were a likely cause.

She also confirmed that “a lot of people” might have been trapped inside when the fire started, he added, suggesting many in the building may have been squatting illegally.

See photos below: