Hotel fire: Two leap 21 storeys
2003-03-05 08:27
Johannesburg - Two of the five people who died when their residential hotel caught fire about 01:00 on Wednesday, jumped to their deaths from the 21st floor, said Malcolm Midgley of emergency services.
Sixty-seven people were injured in the fire, most by smoke inhalation or falling glass shards.
Midgley said two of the injured also jumped from windows in the 21-storey building.
Six of the 67 people were seriously injured, but none of the dead or injured were children.
The fire, which allegedly started in the Rand Inn International Hotel's restaurant, was extinguished by 07:00.
Speaking about 07:45, Midgley said emergency services and traffic police would still be at the hotel for "some time".
Firefighters were damping down "hotspots" in the building, on the corner of Bree and Klein streets in central Johannesburg, and also helping traffic police in evacuating the injured and others.
- SAPA