Johannesburg’s beloved Zoo Lake Bowls Club has been left in ruins after a fire tore through the century-old landmark in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Thick smoke and flames were seen coming from the complex at 06:00, and Fire Ops SA as well as EMS arrived on the scene shortly after the fire was reported, battling to put out the blaze.

Zoo Lake structure, which News24 understands to be the bowls club, is on fire. According to FireOps SA’s Wynand Engelbrecht, the structure is “well alight”, and it’s likely that parts of the building will be completely destroyed.