BLOEMFONTEIN. – Human remains, apparently those of a woman, were found yesterday in a building known as China City in St. Andrew Street in Bloemfontein's city centre after a fire left the building in ruins early on Sunday morning, 23 August 2026.
According to Capt. Loraine Earle, spokesperson for the South African Police Service, Mangaung's emergency centre received a call at 03:49 that Sunday. Fire and rescue teams were dispatched to the scene immediately.
According to the police statement, firefighters worked hard to bring the fire under control. Due to the extent of the damage and the unstable condition of the building, emergency personnel could not immediately begin searching for possible victims. The building had to be declared safe first.
Among those who assisted were Capt. Swannie Swanepoel, a dog handler with Search and Rescue, together with his four-year-old Belgian shepherd dog, Parco.
The search team carefully searched through the rubble when Parco indicated an area where human remains were present.
The circumstances surrounding the fire and the identity of the deceased are still under investigation. The remains will undergo the necessary forensic processes to establish the victim's identity.
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
