THE BURNING BUILDING, HELICOPTERS WORKING ON THE ROOF, OSMOKE, CROWDS, FIRE APPLIANCES, JOURNALISTS SPEAKING TO THE PRETORIA FIRE CHIEF, MR. P. DAVEY, FIREMEN WITH BREATHING APPARATUS AND ONE INTERIOR SEQUENCE OF THE BUILDING THAT IS PROBABLY TOO DARK.




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SOUND TAPE IS ON THE HELICOPTERS HOVERING OVERHEAD, SHOUTED INSTRUCTIONS BETWEEN FIREMEN AND WATER PUMPS ON FIRE TENDERS.
REGRET THE SHOT LIST, RECORDED DURING COVERAGE ON SMALL RECORDER WAS INAUDABLE DUE TO NOISE OF HELICOPTERS DIRECTORY OVERHEAD.

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Background: MUCH OF SOUTH AFRICA'S POPULATION REGISTRATION BUILDING, CIVITAS, IN PRETORIA, WAS TODAY (MONDAY) DESTROYED BY FIRE. SOUTH AFRICAN AIR FORCE HELICOPTERS LIFTED NEARLY TWO DOZEN TRAPPED WORKERS TO SAFETY FROM THE ROOF, AFTER THEY HAD FOUND IT IMPOSSIBLE TO REACH THE GROUND VIA THE FIRE ESCAPES.

THE TEN MILLION RAND (SEVEN AND HALF MILLION STERLING) BUILDING HAS ONLY JUST BEEN COMPLETED. BIGHT HUNDRED WORKERS HAD TO FLEE THE FLAMES WHICH STATED IN THE BASEMENT OF THE BUILDING, AND SPREAD TO THE ROOF OF THE THIRTY STORY BUILDING. HELICOPTERS WERE ALSO USED TO BLOW SMOKE AWAY FROM TRAPPED WORKERS LINING WINDOWS ON THE SIXTEENTH AND TWENTY SECOND FLOORS. THOSE WORKERS RESCUED FROM THE ROOF WERE FLOWN TO A NEARBY SCHOOL PLAYGROUND, WHERE AMBULANCES AND DOCTORS WAITED TO TREAT THE THEM ON THE SPOT.

THE BUILDING IS THE HOME OF SOUTH AFRICA'S POPULATION RECORDS. ALL BIRTHS, DEATHS, MARRIAGES, ARE RECORDED HERE, AND THE BUILDING ALSO ISSUES PASSPORTS AND VISAS TO SOUTH AFRICANS, ALL APPLICATIONS FROM ABROAD FOR VISAS, WORK AND RESIDENCE PERMITS ARE ALSO PROCESSED IN THIS BUILDING.