South African FFs Die in High-Rise Blaze

Sept. 5, 2018
Three firefighters were killed during a high-rise fire Wednesday in the business district of the South African city of Johannesburg.

Three firefighters have been confirmed dead while battling a fire in a high-rise building in the South African city of Johannesburg.

Sowetan Live reports that the blaze broke out Wednesday morning on the 24th floor of a building that houses several government agencies.

One of the firefighters reportedly was on the 23rd floor on the building's exterior when he slipped and fell to his death. The other two who died were among a group of firefighters that became trapped inside the building.

"We already requested our EMS team senior officials to attend with the families to inform them of this very sad news," said Johannesburg public safety official Michael Sun.

Eight firefighters were transported to a hospital suffering from burns and exhaustion, but it is unclear how many of them were among those who had been trapped.

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