DURBAN – A fire at a paint shop on North Coast Road in Avoca Hills has claimed the life of a man who was discovered inside the building on Thursday.
Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said police received a complaint of a fire at business premises in Briardene at 1.45pm.
Mbele said on arrival police found the body of a man believed to be in his thirties with burn wounds.
Netcare 911 spokesperson Shawn Herbst said paramedics responded to the structural fire that had broken out at a paint shop.
He said eThekwini Fire and Rescue Services, Metro Police Search and Rescue, Marshall Security and the SAPS were also on scene.
“During an assessment rescue personnel found an adult male lying on the floor, the man was assessed however he showed no signs of life and was sadly declared deceased by a Netcare 911 rescue technician,” said Herbst.
Herbst added that the circumstances leading to the incident will be investigated by the relevant authorities.
eThekwini Fire Department divisional commander Bruce De Gier said the fire was deep-seated because there was a large quantity of paint products in the shop.
He said four fire trucks attended the scene and 15 firefighters battled the blaze.
De Gier said the neighbouring shops were evacuated for safety reasons while the fire was being contained.
He said the contents of the shop were completely destroyed, however the building was intact.
The police and the Fire Department said the cause of the fire had not yet been determined.
Video by Nettow
THE MERCURY