Families of Joburg fire victims still searching for  loved ones

Nosipho Gala is desperate to know whether her sister survived the fire that killed more that 70 people including12 children.

A hijacked five-storey building in Marshalltown caught fire on Thursday morning.

The building belongs to the city. Many of the deceased, were burnt beyond recognition.

Gala has told SABC News that her family remains optimistic.

She says, “We were sleeping. My sister came to the house to tell us that there is a fire outside so we took the children and went outside. We don’t have a plan. We are traumatised because we cant find our sister, because she is not in the hospital. She is not there which means, she has burnt.’

The Gauteng Health Department has advised families of the victims of the Johannesburg building fire to visit the Diepkloof mortuary in Soweto from Friday to go and identify their loved ones.

The department says the Gauteng Forensic Pathology Services will use the digital fingerprint system to identify unknown bodies which have visible fingerprints.

The department’s Motalatale Modiba says DNA will be used to identify bodies that were burnt beyond recognition.