Fire kills two children locked in Johannesburg apartment

A blaze ripped through a dilapidated building in Johannesburg on Wednesday, killing two children aged under 10 who were locked in an apartment, South African emergency workers said.

Firefighters responding to the fire at a block of flats called Florence Nightingale, in Johannesburg's downtown Hillbrow district, "discovered two minors were burnt beyond recognition", emergency services said in a statement.

"The minors who are suspected to be between the ages of 7 and 5 years were left alone in the locked apartment," it said.

It said the fire broke out at an "old and abandoned" multi-storey building, one of several structures unfit for habitation in what used to be the business district of South Africa's economic hub.

Companies have in recent decades moved out of the crime-ridden Hillbrow area to the northern districts.

Illegal occupation of disused buildings in the city centre is widespread, with many said to be under the control of criminal syndicates who collect rent from occupants.

Police have launched an investigation into the cause of the fire, which started on the first floor of the building before spreading to a floor above, the emergency services said.