SOUTH AFRICA: There was no indication of what sparked the mass of flames licking through what appeared to be the roof of one of South Africa’s historic parliament buildings in Cape Town.
A large fire has broken out at the South African parliament building in Cape Town.
At around 0530GMT on Sunday, firefighters were called to the building after large flames and a massive column of smoke were seen.
“The roof has caught fire, and the National Assembly building is also on fire,” a city emergency services spokesperson said, requesting reinforcements at the scene.
“The fire is not under control, and there have been reports of cracks in the building’s walls,” he added.
Images shared on social media showed a swath of flames licking through the roof of one of the parliament buildings.
There was no indication of what caused the fire.
The Houses of Parliament in Cape Town are divided into three sections, the oldest of which was completed in 1884.
The National Assembly is housed in the newer additions, which were built in the 1920s and 1980s.
A fire ravaged a section of The University of Cape Town’s library, which housed a unique collection of African archives, in April of last year.