Life inside the 'hijacked' Johannesburg building where scores burned alive


Sihle Dube, a survivour of a deadly fire in Johannesburg, is admitted at Bertha Gxowa Hospital in Germiston, South Africa, September 1, 2023. REUTERS/Thando Hlophe

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Like many impoverished residents of downtown Johannesburg, Sihle Dube had rented a tiny room from someone who didn't actually own it, in a rundown building that was becoming a trash-strewn haven for drugs and crime.

On Thursday, he awoke to a bang at 2 a.m. - one of the few things he would remember about that night was seeing the time on his phone - and jumped up to check the entrance to his apartment.

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