Johannesburg: A man was arrested and will face 76 counts of murder after surprising an inquiry by saying he started a deadly building fire in South Africa last year while trying to get rid of the body of someone he had strangled on the orders of a drug dealer.

The shocking confession came when the man was testifying at the public inquiry into the causes of the night-time fire in the Johannesburg apartment complex in August, which was one of the country’s worst disasters.

The 29-year-old man, who wasn’t named, said he had killed a man in the basement of the rundown building on the night of the fire by beating and strangling him, according to South African media reports of the testimony. He said he then poured petrol on the man’s body and set it alight with a match.

He testified that he was a drug user and was told to kill the man by a Tanzanian drug dealer who lived in the building.

Hours later, police said they had arrested the man. He is also facing 120 counts of attempted murder and a charge of arson, police said in a statement. He would appear in court in Johannesburg soon, police said, without providing a date.

The inquiry he was testifying at isn’t a criminal proceeding and his confession came as a complete surprise. The inquiry is looking into what caused the fire and what safety failures might have resulted in so many people dying, and he testified because he was a resident of the building.

The panel in charge of the inquiry ordered that he not be identified after his testimony and a lawyer leading the questioning of witnesses said that his confession couldn’t be used against him because it wasn’t a criminal hearing.

South African media referred to him as “Mr X” when reporting on his claim that he caused the fire that ripped through the dilapidated five-storey building in the city’s Marshalltown district, killing dozens, including at least 12 children. More than 80 people were injured.