Durban building blaze leaves four hospitalised for smoke inhalation
Four people have been taken to hospital for smoke inhalation after a building caught alight in the Durban CBD on Thursday morning.
KZN emergency services’ Rob Mckenzie says paramedics were on the scene.
"The patients were in a stable condition and have been transported to hospital for continued medical care."
Divisional Commander at eThekwini Fire Sifiso Mtshali says the blaze was confined to the ground floor of the Colonial Building located on the corner of Dr Pixley KaSeme Street and Monty Naicker Road.
READ: WATCH: Firefighters battling blaze in Durban CBD
"The fire was located on the ground floor. Our brigade managed to isolate the gas which was leaking inside and extinguished the fire.
"We also managed to ventilate the fire floors that were affected by the smoke. I believe in 25-minutes, we got to the incident and damped down all hot spots for the remaining minutes we spent at the incident."
The multi-storey block's also being used as off-campus accommodation for students.
Jomari van Jaarsveld, who works in a building across the road, says she saw people running out of the smoke-filled building.
"Everyone was just trying to rush out the building. Some just carried whatever they could just take with them. The whole building was just black and full of smoke. There were people standing outside saying mostly students stay in the building."
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