Fire hits South Africa’s Parliament Building in Cape Town
Firefighters are battling a blaze at South Africa’s national Parliament Building in Cape Town, an official confirmed Sunday.
A dark plume of smoke and flames can be seen rising from the building in the center of the city.
“The roof has caught fire and the National Assembly building is also on fire,” a representative of the city’s fire and rescue services told AFP, who requested reinforcements on the scene.
“The fire is not under control and cracks in the walls of the building have been reported,” he warned earlier this morning.
No people have been injured in the fire, which was reported by security guards.
More than 35 firefighters are battling the fire, which appears to be threatening the building’s roof.
South Africa bids final farewell to Archbishop Desmond Tutu
The fire broke out in a former parliament building at around 03:00 GMT. In the early morning, flames and smoke were visible above the building with panicked Capetonians sharing photos of the rising smoke on social media
It was in this huge Victorian building, with its red brick and white facade, that the last apartheid president, FW de Klerk, announced the end of the racist regime in February 1990.
The current “national assembly is safe for the time being,” former Cape Town mayor and current minister Patricia de Lille told reporters at the scene. Emergency crews are “monitoring the situation”, she said.
The streets of the upmarket district were quickly cordoned off. The security cordon stretched to the flowers still spread on the forecourt of nearby St George’s Cathedral, in tribute to anti-apartheid hero Desmond Tutu, whose funeral was held here the day before.
His ashes were buried in the church in a private ceremony that morning.
The city already suffered a major fire in April. Ablaze on Table Mountain overlooking the coastal city spread and destroyed treasures in the library of the prestigious Cape Town University below.
Cape Town is the seat of Parliament, with the National Assembly and an upper house called the National Council of Provinces, while the government is based in Pretoria.
AP, AFP