More than 1,000 people were living in building gutted by fire, says resident who lost four relatives in blaze

A person who had lived many years in the Marshalltown building that caught fire on Thursday said the disaster was worse than reported. 

Moses White, 32, who lost his brother, sister-in-law and their two children in the blaze, said there were more than 1,000 occupants. According to estimates after the deadly disaster that killed 74 people 200 people lived in the building in the Joburg CBD.

“There were 36 rooms on just the first floor and each room had on average between six and eight people. The building had four floors. You can now see that there were just too many of us there and not the 200 that has been stated to the public,” White said.

If White's calculations are correct, there were more than 1,000 people living in the building. 

On Friday, authorities continued to comb the property in search of any more bodies, Sniffer dogs were brought in for the search. 

White was speaking to TimesLIVE at the Diepkloof mortuary in Soweto where families of those who died in the fire had come to identify their loved ones.

At 3pm, families were still arriving at the mortuary. The group gathered outside the entrance. Health workers informed them that only two people at a time would be allowed in to identify bodies or have their DNA taken.

The Gauteng health department has revealed 62 victims were burnt beyond recognition. Only 12 are identifiable.

TimesLIVE