At least 73 killed in Johannesburg building fire; more than 50 injured

More than 70 people have died after a building caught fire in Johannesburg, South Africa, with that number expected to go up as the search for victims continues, according to local officials.

According to firefighters, the fire started at 1 a.m. local time inside a multi-story abandoned building in the heart of Johannesburg's central business district that was occupied by homeless people.

The fire took three hours to contain, and some of the victims threw themselves out of the windows to escape the flames, the Associated Press reported. "This is a tragedy for Johannesburg. Over 20 years in the service, I've never come across something like this," Emergency Services Management spokesman Robert Mulaudzi told AP.

As of early Thursday morning, at least 73 people were reported dead and more than 50 were hurt. Seven of the victims were children, with the youngest being 1 year old.

Witnesses say there may have been as many as 200 people in the building at the time, so the number of people killed could be higher.

While the cause of the fire is still under investigation, a local government official, Mgcini Tshwaku, said that there were signs of some people possibly lighting fires inside the building to keep warm.

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.