|
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) - A fire swept through a downtown Johannesburg building early Wednesday, killing 12 people and injuring 33 others trapped inside by locked security gates and belongings piled in passageways, officials said.
The dead, who appeared to be illegal immigrants from Malawi, suffocated because they could not get out of the building, Johannesburg Fire Department spokesman Malcom Midgely said.
Hospital officials said nine people were in critical condition and 19 were seriously hurt.
|