WATCH | Fire destroys Durban church

A church in Durban has been gutted after a blaze that ripped through the building on Sunday evening.

Emer-G-Med spokesperson Kyle van Reenen said the church, located in Tigard Avenue in Westridge, had been completely destroyed in the fire.

He said firefighters had managed to extinguish the blaze.

“The cause is unknown and no injuries have been reported.”

Footage of the blaze went viral on social media, with many Durban residents expressing dismay about seeing the building go up in flames.

eThekwini Fire and Emergency Services divisional commander Dennis Govender said they have not yet determined the cause of the fire.

“It's hard to determine what the cause of the fire was. Mostly of the building has been completely destroyed but we managed to save the feeding area.”

Govender said the fire started just before 6pm and took about an hour to extinguish.

“The church's pastor was on the scene. It appears that most of the congregants are foreign nationals,” he said.

Two weeks ago firefighters battled a raging blaze which broke out on the fourth floor of a textile and screen printing factory on Felix Dlamini Road (formerly Brickfield Road).

Members of eThekwini Fire and Emergency Services attempted to control the flames that gutted the multistorey building.

In another blaze last month, more than 40 families at the Marikana informal settlement in Cato Manor, outside Durban, were left homeless after a fire ripped through their homes.

One person, Nomasamson Dlamini, 38, was killed and a 16-year-old boy, Cebo Piliso, suffered severe burns to his hands and head.

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