Durban – The owners of a Durban skyscraper said on Saturday that 25 businesses are being relocated after a blaze ripped through the 25th floor of the building on Wednesday night.
Urban Lime Properties, an urban regeneration company, said in a statement that the fire caused 5 000 square metres of damage in total.
Head of media relations for the company, Katie Friedman, said floors 23 to 26 were damaged from extensive smoke and water damage. Firefighters battled for four hours to exitinguish the blaze in Pixley Kesame street in central Durban.
"The floors, which housed around 25 different businesses (including the building owners Urban Lime Properties, who’s offices were also destroyed) are all being relocated to different floors within the building".
Urban Lime Properties CEO Johnny Friedman said: “Our teams are literally working around the clock to find alternative space for the four floors of businesses affected by the fire. These are mostly small to medium-sized businesses who can ill afford such disruption and our heart goes out to the business owners, some of whom have had a life-times work destroyed. There is no known cause of the fire as yet, but forensic teams are examining the evidence and will be making a full report.”