Firefighters, together with Metro police search and rescue members, used massive ladders to gain access to the building and search for those who had been trapped.
Kyle van Reenen of Emer-G-Med said multiple emergency services responded to the scene shortly after 10am.
“Thirteen people were treated for injuries ranging from minor to moderate and taken to nearby hospitals. The cause of the fire is unknown and will form the subject of a police investigation,” he said.
Garrith Jamieson of ALS Paramedics said two people sustained moderate burn injuries while a third was injured after jumping from a window.
TimesLIVE
13 injured in Durban CBD as China Emporium goes up in flames
At least 13 people, many of them Chinese nationals, sustained minor to moderate injuries after a fire broke out at the China Emporium on the corner of Anton Lembede and Brook streets in Durban’s CBD on Friday.
Emergency services have cordoned off parts of Anton Lembede, Brook and Dr Pixley Kaseme streets while members of eThekwini fire and rescue continue to battle the blaze.
Firefighters, together with Metro police search and rescue members, used massive ladders to gain access to the building and search for those who had been trapped.
Kyle van Reenen of Emer-G-Med said multiple emergency services responded to the scene shortly after 10am.
“Thirteen people were treated for injuries ranging from minor to moderate and taken to nearby hospitals. The cause of the fire is unknown and will form the subject of a police investigation,” he said.
Garrith Jamieson of ALS Paramedics said two people sustained moderate burn injuries while a third was injured after jumping from a window.
TimesLIVE