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A man is charged with 76 counts of murder in a deadly South African building fire last year
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FILE — Medics stand by the covered bodies of victims of a deadly blaze in downtown Johannesburg, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. A man has made a shocking claim that he started the building fire in South Africa that killed 76 people last year when he set alight the body of a person he had strangled in the basement of the rundown apartment complex. South African media reported that the man’s surprise claim came when he was testifying Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024 at an ongoing inquiry into the disaster. - photo by AP Photo/Jerome Delay/File
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A man was charged with 76 counts of murder and 86 counts of attempted murder on Thursday for allegedly causing a deadly fire at an apartment building in South Africa last year that was one of the country's worst disasters. Prosecutors said he made a written confession in which he admitted starting the nighttime fire that ripped through the five-story building in Johannesburg in August, killing 76 people and leaving dozens injured. The suspect, Sithembiso Lawrence Mdlalose, was also charged with arson and was ordered to be kept in police custody until a hearing next month when his lawyer is expected to say if he will apply for bail.