Beer bottle clue as cops probe blaze that gutted Bushbuckridge building

A 12-storey downtown Johannesburg building on the corner of Nugget and Jeppe streets after it caught fire earlier.

A 12-storey downtown Johannesburg building on the corner of Nugget and Jeppe streets after it caught fire earlier.

Published Sep 15, 2022

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Johannesburg – Mpumalanga South African Police Service (SAPS) have launched an investigation into the fire that engulfed a municipal building, damaging several offices on Wednesday.

Police Colonel Donald Mdhluli revealed that the fire started in the early hours of Wednesday at around 2 o’clock.

“Some beer bottles that were stuffed with cotton wool inside were also discovered and these items were seized to form part of the investigation. No casualties were reported and the cost of the damage will be revealed as investigation progresses,”said Mdhluli.

Information received by the police from security guards who were on duty at the time of the fire, say that they heard a loud bang coming from the building and when they looked into the matter, they discovered that 11 office blocks, 10 finance offices and one Internal audit office were ablaze.

Police and firefighters swiftly responded to the calls and the fire was extinguished.

The Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela also expressed her concern over the burnt offices.

“The incident will have a negative impact on service delivery for people in the area,” said Manamela

Police have urged that anyone with information that can assist in the investigation regarding the cause of fire and the motive behind it to contact Detective Captain Evans Mashego at 082 319 9732.

Alternatively members of the public can call the Crime Stop number at 08600 10111 or send information via MySAPS App. All information received will be treated as confidential and callers may opt to remain anonymous.

IOL

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