Survivors of Johannesburg fire that killed 74 recall horrifying ordeal

Survivors of a deadly fire that claimed 74 lives in South Africa spoke of coming to terms with the tragedy.

The fire ripped through a five-story building in Johannesburg that had been used by an estimated 200 homeless people and squatters, many of them foreign nationals.

One survivor, Malawi-born Tom Mandala injured his leg after he escaped the flames by jumping out of a fourth floor window. He told how he had been sleeping when one of his friends woke him.

“I tried to open the door, but there was too much smoke,” he said and described how he had to break a window before leaping to the street below.”