WATCH | Durban University of Technology residence goes up in flames

Students living at the Durban University of Technology's (DUT's) Renaissance residence in the city were evacuated after a fire broke out in the building on Monday evening.

Bright Ntengo was at a café on the first floor of the 16-floor building when he heard screams from outside.

"I heard people from outside shouting 'fire, fire'. No one inside the building saw what was happening because the fire didn't start in the rooms, it started in the power room," said Ntengo.

The final-year business law student ran out of the residence, which is in the central business district, where he got a clear view of the thick smoke.

"Quite a number of students did not believe that there was a fire until flames started about an hour later," he said.

The university said that the cause of the fire was unclear and that no students had been harmed.

"Thankfully, no students or residence staff were seriously injured during the incident. The dean of students, Dr Maditsane Nkonoane, has confirmed that all of the affected students were transferred to other residences last night," said the university on Tuesday.

"We were able to get our things out but it was tough, the floors were really slippery and the elevator was not working. I had to climb all the way to the 16th floor," said Ntengo.