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WATCH | Fire destroys Durban church 24 May 2021 - 11:30 Image: via Facebook
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.
WATCH | Turning fire hazard into fireproof material 02 May 2021 - 00:00
Flammable trees of the species that stoked the Table Mountain fire last month could be turned from a fire hazard into a fireproof material and revolutionise building in informal settlements, curbing the runaway fires that kill dozens of people every year.
Nomasamson Dlamini was the latest victim. She died in an inferno in Cato Crest, Durban, which burnt down 50 shacks in the same week that the wildfire torched heritage buildings at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and forced widespread evacuations.
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The Daily Vox
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The Marikana informal settlement in Cato Crest awoke on Sunday morning to a fire that started in the Nqobile section of the settlement. The section is named after the late Nqobile Nzuza who was shot and killed by a police officer during a protest against evictions.
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Nomasamson Dlamini, a 38-year-old woman was killed in the fire while a teenager sustained serious burns on his arms, legs and head. The fire destroyed 49 households leaving the residents with no belongings.
Duduzile Hlephu, one of the people affected by the fire, told The Daily Vox that they didn’t have any food or blankets and were in need of any help they could get. “Everything has been burnt. Right now we are sitting outside and we are struggling,” Hlephu said.
EDITORIAL | In SA, all fires do not burn equally On the same day as the Cape Town disaster, a blaze destroyed lives but went relatively unnoticed 19 April 2021 - 19:46
The fire ripped through homes. Buildings are in ashes. Many residents lost most of their belongings, including food for the month.
This is not in Cape Town. This is the aftermath of a blaze, also on Sunday, that swept through Marikana informal settlement in Cato Crest in Durban. Mother of two Nomasamson Dlamini, 38, died, and 16-year-old Cebo Mpiliso was critically injured, while 45 families were left homeless.
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