Johannesburg

Staff at the airport in Johannesburg realised that something was wrong and therefore asked the aircraft to make an emergency landing

At least 50 people have died in a fire that broke out in a high-rise building in Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city, emergency services said, as quoted by Reuters.

43 were injured in the fire, which broke out before dawn.

A search operation is underway for survivors, with firefighters believing more people may be trapped inside.

A fire that engulfed a five-storey building taken over for illegal housing killed more than 70 people including children in central Johannesburg on Thursday, the South African city's emergency services said.

Another 52 were injured in what is on track to become one of the deadliest fires worldwide in recent years.

The death toll from a fire that engulfed a five-storey building in central Johannesburg on Thursday has risen to 52, the South African city's emergency services said.

"We're on 52 bodies, which we have recovered and also 43 people who sustained minor injuries," Emergency Management Services spokesman Robert Mulaudzi told a local broadcaster.

Leaders of the BRICS group have invited Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates to join - a move aimed at increasing the influence of the bloc, which has vowed to defend the "global south", Reuters reported.

Leaders of the BRICS emerging economies meet in Johannesburg this week looking to widen the bloc's influence and push for a shift in global geopolitics.

South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to host China's President Xi Jinping, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for the annual three-day summit starting tomorrow.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said that he supports more countries joining the BRICS group of large developing nations, which currently includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The group will hold a summit in Johannesburg from Aug. 22 to 24. The meeting will have in hand a list of others desiring to join ther group.

Paleontologists in South Africa said on June 5 they have found the oldest known burial site in the world, containing remains of a small-brained distant relative of humans previously thought incapable of complex behavior.

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias is set to visit South Africa and Mozambique on 24 and 25 January, respectively. During his stay in the above countries, Dendias is expected to have a series of bilateral meetings with top officials.

The fossils of our earliest ancestors found in South Africa are a million years older than previously thought, meaning they walked the Earth around the same time as their East African relatives like the famous "Lucy," according to new research.