Students from the Mangosuthu University of Technology were evacuated from a city centre residence after a fire broke out on the ground floor on Wednesday morning.

Smoke billowed from the eaves of the old Lonsdale Hotel‚ which has since been converted into student housing on Durban’s beachfront.

eThekwini Metro firefighters managed to quell the blaze as bewildered students gathered on the street. A Rescue Care spokesman said that medics had responded to the scene and had been on standby while firefighters battled the fire.

“No injuries have been reported and it would appear that the quick response from the eThekwini Metro Fire Department resulted in the fire being extinguished‚” he said.