Like many impoverished residents of downtown Johannesburg, Sihle Dube had rented a tiny room from someone who didn't actually own it, in a rundown building that was becoming a trash-strewn haven for drugs and crime.
On Thursday, he awoke to a bang at 2 a.m. — one of the few things he would remember about that night was seeing the time on his phone — and jumped up to check the entrance to his apartment.
Smoke came billowing in.