South African police arrest suspect in connection with building fire that killed 77

By Mariya Knight and Tara John, CNN

(CNN) — Police in Gauteng have arrested a suspect in connection with the fire that tore through a five-story building in central Johannesburg last year and killed 77 people, South African public broadcaster SABC reported Tuesday.

Gauteng police spokesperson Dimakatso Nevhuhlwi said the suspect was arrested after he confessed before the Commission of Inquiry into the building fire, and that the 29-year-old man will appear in court soon on charges of arson, 76 counts of murder and 120 counts of attempted murder, according to SABC.

The exact cause of the fire is “yet to be determined,” it added.

At least 12 children were among those killed in the blaze last year. More than 50 people were injured.

The fire affected some of the country’s most vulnerable people while also highlighting a long-standing problem regarding abandoned buildings in South Africa.

The blaze took place in what is known locally as a “hijacked building” – a property abandoned by landlords and taken over by gangs or other groups and leased out mostly to migrants and South Africans lacking the means to afford other forms of housing.

Hijacked buildings often fail to meet basic safety regulations. CNN reported at the time that local authorities said the apartments in the building, intended to house only two or three people, were partitioned into sleeping areas to accommodate multiple inhabitants.

While South Africa has seen fires devastate informal settlements before, the Johannesburg fire is widely seen as the worst in recent memory.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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CNN’s David McKenzie contributed to this report.