Scary scenes were witnessed in Laudium, Centurion, on Thursday, where a fire broke out at a restaurant complex on Thursday.
Laudium fire: Rescuers move to save trapped staff
Emergency medical staff and firefighters were deployed to central Laudium where the popular Mochachos Chicken Fiesta eatery was engulfed in flames.
Plumes of smoke permeated from the complex with an unconfirmed number of restaurant staffers trapped inside. According to Laudium Today, a renowned community publisher, alerts rang off when patrollers heard the cries of those who were unable to get out of the building before the fire gained momentum.
Fortunately, the quick response from firefighters and medical officials resulted in the fire being extinguished and the Mochachos staffers successfully rescued without harm.
Building on fire on top of Mochachos in Laudium. Please avoid the area and keep the roads open for emergency services. Some were trapped inside but are now safe. PAJ Community Patrollers, Laudium Disaster Management and Emergency and Rescue on scene. Fire is on scene pic.twitter.com/0HjCwTq7Wk
— Laudium Today™ (@LaudiumToday) November 11, 2021
At this time, investigations are underway to determine the cause of the fire that ravaged the two-storey complex. Authorities were on the scene clearing out the rubble and conducting further investigations at the time this article was published.
Here is video footage of the scenes outside Mochachos in Laudium when the fire broke out:
Fire: CBD Laudium Pretoria. Some were trapped but are safe. pic.twitter.com/XiVO9tQVBN
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) November 11, 2021
Video 2 https://t.co/3LCjkEN9g1 pic.twitter.com/g0zCOApDuf
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) November 11, 2021
This is not the first fire incident to occur in Laudium recently. In September, a petrol station fire left two victims injured.
According to Rekord, kitchen staff from the Shell garage suffered serious burn injuries when a fire broke out from their use of a defected deep fryer.
“The fire started at the deep fryer and was subsequently put out by staff. Two employees suffered burns on their hands, face and back,” community leader Prajay Ramjee told the cited publication.