TWO people were injured and ten cars went up in flames yesterday at a vehicle workshop in the heart of Umhlanga Rocks near Durban.

TWO people were injured and ten cars went up in flames yesterday at a vehicle workshop in the heart of Umhlanga Rocks near Durban.

Firefighters fought the raging fire for nearly an hour to bring the flames under control.

Netcare 911 paramedic Jeff Wicks said the workshop owner and a worker were seriously injured in the blaze and were taken to Umhlanga Hospital.

"One of them was critically injured with burns of up to 80percent to his body while the other had serious burns to 60percent of his body."

The names of the injured were not available at the time of going to press.

Car Service City is situated next to a petrol station a few metres from the Beverly Hills and Oyster Box hotels.

Ward councillor Heinz de Boer said the fire came at a bad time as both the Greek and Cameroonian soccer teams had booked to stay in hotels in the luxury seaside resort during the World Cup.

"It's not good timing - but I think the incident will be seen as a localised one by Fifa."

eThekwini metro firefighters and the police's search and rescue officers quickly arrived to quell the blaze.

eThekwini's fire divisional commander Zweli Thusi said the cause of the devastating fire was not yet known.

"This fire could have been very dangerous since it happened right next to a petrol station," Thusi said.