More than 70 dead in building fire in South Africa's Johannesburg

At least 70 people have been killed in a fire at a five-storey building in Johannesburg’s central business district, emergency services officials say.

Alerts about the fire were raised at 1:30am on Thursday local time (23:30 GMT on Wednesday).

The cause of the fire remains unknown and the death toll is expected to rise, according to authorities.

Firefighters evacuated several people from the building and the injured were treated on the scene or transported to hospitals.

The inner-city area, once a big business hub, is now home to many refugees and migrants from African countries.

The building is “one of those hijacked, abandoned buildings in the inner city”, Robert Mulaudzi, a spokesperson for Johannesburg’s Emergency Management Services, told local media.