PHOTOS: Springfield China Mall in Durban closed after massive fire

Staff Reporter

Twelve trading units were destroyed and two more severely damaged in a fire that tore through the China Mall complex in Springfield, north of Durban, in the early hours of Saturday.

eThekwini Municipality said firefighters were called out at about 2.10am after its Emergency Services Directorate received a distress call reporting the blaze at the mall.

“Firefighters from eThekwini Fire Services Directorate worked tirelessly through the early hours of this morning to extinguish a massive fire that broke out at China Mall in Springfield, north of Durban,” the municipality said in a statement.

More than 25 firefighters were deployed to the scene, with support from teams from four northern fire stations.

The municipality said crews arrived to find “a fierce blaze already tearing through the complex”.

“Despite intense heat, heavy smoke, and rapidly collapsing structures, rescue teams fought relentlessly for several hours to contain the inferno,”