Two dead after structural fire at Pretoria residential building

JOHANNESBURG - Two people have died from smoke inhalation after a structural fire ripped through the basement of the De Williershof residential building in Tshwane.

The city's emergency services and fire teams found the building's Block 1 basement engulfed in flames in the early hours of Sunday morning. The victims were discovered in the basement, which residents had illegally converted into a living space using makeshift board divisions.

Emergency services spokesperson Nana Radebe-Kgiba said this incident follows a separate fire in the same building just hours before the second blaze.

"Fire safety officers will conduct preliminary investigations to determine the cause of the fire. We can confirm that earlier on, just after 1am, there was another call that we responded to at the same building, where a block of flats on the ground floor was on fire and seven rooms were burned. Fortunately, there were no casualties."