Durban - It was a hectic day at the Gateway mall on Wednesday as a fire broke out in a restaurant and a jewellery shop was robbed.
Restaurant patrons had to be evacuated while firefighters fought the blaze in the My Diners restaurant.
Shopping centre manager Akash Maharaj said that about 2.40pm a fire broke out at a restaurant on the outside of the mall. The fire department and the mall’s safety team contained it and put it out.
“As a precautionary measure, the north side of the mall was evacuated. There were no injuries.”
Marshall Security spokesman Kyle van Reenen said the fire was believed to have started in an extractor system.
“It was confined to the extractor, so no serious damage was done to the mall. There were no injuries and people who were inside had to be evacuated”
The My Diners manager said the fire was in another shop above his but could not say which it was.
Before the fire, three armed men entered Narandas Jewellery shop about 9.30am. They opened fire, seized two boxes of jewellery, then fled in a grey BMW. The vehicle was later found abandoned, said police spokesman Shooz Magudulela, and it was established that it had been hijacked on the Berea on Monday.
@sphengubane
The Mercury