Joburg CBD fire tragedy: Families forced to wait as mortuary logistics delay identification

Only a few bodies have been moved to the Diepkloof forensic pathology services (FPS) mortuary, while the remaining bodies are waiting to be transported from the Hillbrow mortuary after a fire in a CBD building claimed 74 lives on Thursday.

The government urged families of the deceased to make their way to the Diepkloof FPS mortuary in Soweto from Friday for the identification of bodies.

The mortuary will also be open on Saturdays and Sundays.

The inner-city building on the corner of Albert and Delvers streets was gutted in the early hours of Thursday, claiming the lives of 40 males, 24 females and 12 children. Ten of the bodies are unidentifiable.

On Friday morning families could be seen making their way into the mortuary to identify their loved ones.

Those hoping to get the process done with were left disappointed as they were left waiting in the parking lot for nearly two hours.

Treasure-Lee Shuping, who on Thursday rushed to the scene of the disaster in search of her daughter, was among those who made their way to the Soweto mortuary on Friday.

She said she was referred to Hillbrow as the only bodies at Diepkloof were the unidentifiable ones.

Gauteng health spokesperson Motaletale Modiba confirmed there were bodies at the Hillbrow mortuary but said they would all be transported to Soweto ahead of the identification process.

The department is expected to brief the media and provide updates on the identification process.

A prayer session is expected to be held in the Joburg CBD on Friday afternoon.

TimesLIVE