Fire Tears Through Parliament Building In South Africa

• It comes hours after Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s state funeral at St George’s Cathedral, near Parliament

EKO HOT BLOG reports that a large fire is raging at the Houses of Parliament in the South African city of Cape Town.

Video footage shows a plume of black smoke filling the sky, with huge flames coming out from the roof of the building.

Dozens of firefighters are at the site battling the blaze; it is not yet clear what caused the fire.

It comes hours after Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s state funeral at St George’s Cathedral, near Parliament.

Read also: Body Of Prominent Nigerian Businessman Murdered In South Africa Arrives Lagos

The roof area had caught fire and the National Assembly building was on fire too, the city authorities initially said.

Minister of Public Works Patricia de Lille later said the fire in the Chamber of the Council of Provinces (the parliament’s upper house) had been contained, but the National Assembly building was still burning.

The parliament is not currently in session because of the holidays.

The Houses of Parliament in Cape Town are made up of three sections, with the oldest dating back to 1884. The newer sections built in the 1920s and 1980s house the National Assembly

Last year, a fire ravaged part of the University of Cape Town’s library, which was home to a unique collection of African archives.

Click to watch our video of the week 

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

South Africa Suggests Omicron Wave May Have Peaked

---

Advertise or Publish a Story on EkoHot Blog:

Kindly contact us at [email protected]. Breaking stories should be sent to the above email and substantiated with pictorial evidence.

Citizen journalists will receive a token as data incentive.

Call or Whatsapp: 0803 561 7233, 0703 414 5611