Fire in South Africa's parliament building
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A major fire erupts at the South African Parliament in Cape Town, and firefighters have it under control after several hours.
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Flames were bursting from the roof and a plume of smoke could be seen from far away
A major fire erupted in the historic South African parliament building in the capital, Cape Town, early on Sunday.
“The roof has caught fire and the National Assembly building is also on fire,” a spokesperson for the city’s emergency services told AFP.
Report of fire at #SouthAfrican #parliament in #capetown #BREAKING pic.twitter.com/LRBQQC0YVy
— Global.TV (@GlobalTelevsion) January 2, 2022
The alarm was raised at 5 am, and the 36 fighters that were on the scene requested even more resources to control the blaze, which was eventually put under control after hours of work.
No one was seriously injured in the fire.
Cape Town's historic parliament building consists of three sections: The oldest was completed in 1884, with the newer additions constructed in the 1920s and 1980s housing the National Assembly.
The fire started in the building's third-floor offices, but the reason behind remains unknown to this hour.
This unfortunate event comes only a day after the funeral of South-African anti-apartheid icon Archbishop Desmond Tutu in Cape Town.
![In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had "engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)](https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2024/12/21/b4a69f2e-8682-43e4-9d37-49482b304ab3/3.png?v=2&format=webp "In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had \"engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)")
