A nighttime fire ripped through a rundown apartment building mainly occupied by homeless people and squatters in Johannesburg, forcing some to throw babies out of third-story windows in a desperate attempt to save them and leaving at least 73 people dead early Thursday, witnesses and emergency services in South Africa害羞草研究所檚 biggest city said.

At least seven of the victims were children, the youngest a 1-year-old, according to an emergency services spokesperson. A South African television station reported that the number had climbed to 12 children dead, although emergency services didn害羞草研究所檛 immediately confirm that.

More than 50 people were injured and emergency services officials warned that the death toll could still rise as they continued to search the scene more than 12 hours after the blaze broke out at around 1 a.m.

Dozens of bodies recovered by firefighters lay on a side road outside the apartment block, some in body bags but others covered in silver sheets or blankets after the body bags ran out.

害羞草研究所淥ver 20 years in the service, I害羞草研究所檝e never come across something like this,害羞草研究所� Johannesburg Emergency Services Management spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said.

Authorities hadn害羞草研究所檛 established the cause of the fire but Mgcini Tshwaku, a local government official, said the initial evidence suggested it started with a candle. Inhabitants used candles and fires for light and to keep warm in the winter cold, he said.

Firefighters were still making their way through the remnants of shacks and other informal structures that littered the inside of the derelict five-story building in the heart of Johannesburg害羞草研究所檚 central business district. Smoke seeped out of the blackened building even though the fire was out, while twisted blankets and sheets hung like ropes out of shattered windows to show how people had used them to try and escape the flames.

Some of the survivors described how they jumped out of windows to escape the blaze, but only after tossing their children to others below.

害羞草研究所淓verything happened so fast and I only had time to throw the baby out,害羞草研究所� said Adam Taiwo, who managed to save his 1-year-old son and himself. 害羞草研究所淚 also followed him after they caught him downstairs.害羞草研究所� Taiwo said he did not know where his wife, Joyce, was.

A witness who lives in a building across the road said he saw others also throw babies out of the burning building and that at least one man died when he jumped from a window on the third floor and hit the concrete sidewalk 害羞草研究所渉ead first.害羞草研究所�

Another witness who didn害羞草研究所檛 give his name told television news channel eNCA that he lived in a building next door and heard people screaming for help and shouting 害羞草研究所淲e害羞草研究所檙e dying in here害羞草研究所� when the fire started.

As the fire raged, some occupants got trapped behind locked gates at the exits and it was clear there were no proper fire escape routes, local official Tshwaku said.

害羞草研究所淧eople couldn害羞草研究所檛 get out,害羞草研究所� he said, adding that some of the victims may have died after jumping out of the building.

As many as 200 people may have been living in the building, witnesses said, including in the basement, which should have been used as a parking garage. Others estimated an even higher number of occupants.

Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda said 141 families were affected by the tragedy but could not say exactly how many people were in the building when the fire started. Many of the people inside were foreign nationals, he said. That could make identifying victims and tracing the missing hard as many were likely in South Africa illegally, other officials said, and had no South African documents.

A woman who asked not to be identified said she lived in the building and escaped the flames with her grown son and 2-year-old child. She stood outside holding the toddler for hours and said she didn害羞草研究所檛 know what happened to two other children from her family.

害羞草研究所淚 just saw smoke everywhere and I just ran out with this baby only,害羞草研究所� the woman said. 害羞草研究所淚 don害羞草研究所檛 have any home, and I don害羞草研究所檛 know what to do anymore.害羞草研究所�

In a statement, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said, 害羞草研究所渢his is a great tragedy felt by families whose loved ones perished in this awful manner, and our hearts go out to every person affected by this event.害羞草研究所�

A spokesperson for Ramaphosa said he had offered the assistance of the national disaster management agency if needed.

Johannesburg is rated as Africa害羞草研究所檚 richest city but its center is rundown and often neglected. Abandoned and broken-down buildings are common, and people desperate for some form of accommodation use them for shelter. City authorities refer to the structures as 害羞草研究所渉ijacked buildings害羞草研究所� and they have been a problem for years, if not decades.

While city authorities were catching much of the blame for the deaths, they said it was often difficult to get courts to issue orders to evict the homeless from such buildings.

The building in question was reportedly owned by the city of Johannesburg and is considered a heritage site, but was not being managed by the city. It was once the site of South Africa害羞草研究所檚 notorious 害羞草研究所減ass害羞草研究所� office, which controlled the movement of Black people under the racist system of apartheid, according to a blue historical plaque hanging at the entrance.

害羞草研究所淒enied a place in the city, many were ordered to leave Johannesburg,害羞草研究所� the plaque reads.

Decades later, the deadly fire made the building a modern emblem of the exclusion of poor people in Johannesburg.

Speaking at the scene, the Gauteng province害羞草研究所檚 police commissioner, Lt. Gen. Elias Mawela, said authorities were aware of approximately 700 buildings in central Johannesburg that were derelict and abandoned. He urged city authorities to act.

害羞草研究所淪hut it down. That building.害羞草研究所� Mawela said.

Meanwhile, Mulaudzi, the emergency services spokesperson, said Thursday害羞草研究所檚 fire took three hours to contain and firefighters needed time to work through all five floors.

He said there were 害羞草研究所渙bstructions害羞草研究所� everywhere that would have made it very difficult for residents to escape the deadly blaze and which hindered emergency crews trying to work through the site.

The chance of anyone else being found alive hours after the fire broke out was 害羞草研究所渧ery slim,害羞草研究所� Mulaudzi said.

害羞草研究所�-

Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa. AP writer Cara Anna in Nairobi, Kenya contributed to this report.

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa