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24 November 2023
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Springfield China Mall building catches fire in Durban
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There are no reports of serious injuries or fatalities after a fire broke out at a China Mall building in Springfield, Durban, on Wednesday morning, 22 November 2023. eThekwini municipality spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said the city’s fire and emergency personnel who responded to the incident managed to contain the fire that was spreading rapidly into the mall.
According to Marshall Security’s Andreas Mathios, the fire broke out in the early hours of Wednesday morning. “The Marshall Security emergency dispatch centre received reports from residents around the Springfield Park area saying they were seeing smoke from near the China Mall building. We responded along with other emergency services and the metro police and found the building was on fire.” He said the fire was controlled and shop owners moved quickly to remove merchandise.
Mathios said law enforcement was in attendance to secure the area in case the residents from the nearby informal settlement tried to loot the affected shops.
The eThekwini Fire Department was still on scene at 08h00am on Wednesday morning. “The fire and emergency services managed to save more than 50 percent of the building. A full sweep and search was done to ensure that no one was in the building,” she said.
After the fire was extinguished, affected areas were barricaded to prevent access for safety reasons.
Sisilana added that the cause of the fire was unknown at this stage, but investigations were under way. She confirmed there were no injuries or fatalities.
In 2019, a woman fell to her death at the premises while fleeing protesters. Anitha Premdaw fell through perspex on the mall roof. Mount Moriah resident Premdaw, 48, who fell 5m, had recently been employed as a cleaner. She died of her injuries at the scene, while a person with her broke a leg when she also jumped.
In a separate fire, in January last year, the China Emporium was completely gutted. The building, located in the western side of the Durban Central Business District, was extensively damaged.
A structural engineer’s report received days after the fire recommended that the entire building be demolished. eThekwini Municipality confirmed that a decision to demolish the structure was undertaken to recover R28 million from the developer.
Following the fire, the building owner, Zoloscore Investments (Pty) Ltd was directed to demolish the structure within six months however, this was not done.
“Due to non-action by the owners, the municipality approached court for the demolition of the building to be granted through a court order,” the City said in a statement in August.
Sources: The Witness, IOL, Community News Network TV
According to Marshall Security’s Andreas Mathios, the fire broke out in the early hours of Wednesday morning. “The Marshall Security emergency dispatch centre received reports from residents around the Springfield Park area saying they were seeing smoke from near the China Mall building. We responded along with other emergency services and the metro police and found the building was on fire.” He said the fire was controlled and shop owners moved quickly to remove merchandise.
Mathios said law enforcement was in attendance to secure the area in case the residents from the nearby informal settlement tried to loot the affected shops.
The eThekwini Fire Department was still on scene at 08h00am on Wednesday morning. “The fire and emergency services managed to save more than 50 percent of the building. A full sweep and search was done to ensure that no one was in the building,” she said.
After the fire was extinguished, affected areas were barricaded to prevent access for safety reasons.
Sisilana added that the cause of the fire was unknown at this stage, but investigations were under way. She confirmed there were no injuries or fatalities.
In 2019, a woman fell to her death at the premises while fleeing protesters. Anitha Premdaw fell through perspex on the mall roof. Mount Moriah resident Premdaw, 48, who fell 5m, had recently been employed as a cleaner. She died of her injuries at the scene, while a person with her broke a leg when she also jumped.
In a separate fire, in January last year, the China Emporium was completely gutted. The building, located in the western side of the Durban Central Business District, was extensively damaged.
A structural engineer’s report received days after the fire recommended that the entire building be demolished. eThekwini Municipality confirmed that a decision to demolish the structure was undertaken to recover R28 million from the developer.
Following the fire, the building owner, Zoloscore Investments (Pty) Ltd was directed to demolish the structure within six months however, this was not done.
“Due to non-action by the owners, the municipality approached court for the demolition of the building to be granted through a court order,” the City said in a statement in August.
Sources: The Witness, IOL, Community News Network TV
