Photos show a wildfire in Cape Town, South Africa, which destroyed historic university buildings and forced students to evacuate
A wildfire that started Cape Town's Table Mountain spread to a nearby university's campus, destroying historic buildings and forcing 4,000 students to evacuate, reports say.
The fire began in Table Mountain's foothills on Sunday morning and reached the University of Cape Town campus, according to the South African National Parks service.
In the devastation, a restaurant was destroyed, a university library was gutted, and South Africa's oldest working windmill — the 225-year old Mostert's Mill — burned down, according to reports.
At least 200 firefighters attended the blaze, and three fire fighters were hospitalized with burns, J.P. Smith, a Cape Town security official, told The Washington Post.
The South African National Parks service, which oversees the Table Mountain heritage site, said that preliminary findings suggested the wildfire was started by a "vacated vagrant fire."
Local media reported Monday that city's law enforcement had placed one person in custody in connection with the origins of the blaze.
The University of Cape Town's Jagger Library was severely damaged, but many valuable treasures were saved, the city's mayor said.
"I have been informed that some of the most valuable works were saved by the quick activation of roller doors. Our attention and support remains with firefighters and all role players working to protect further loss of property," Mayor Dan Plato of Cape Town said.
The Special Collections library at the University of Cape Town burnedpic.twitter.com/o28yBajWHg
— Alfons López Tena (@alfonslopeztena) April 19, 2021
@News24 caught Rhodes memorial restaurant explosion from the fire on the mountain #fireonthemountain pic.twitter.com/txwIWVDOyU
— Claire Berzen (@Claire30184787) April 18, 2021
On Sunday, the university said in a statement that it had suspended all academic activities until April 20.
"For safety reasons, campus will be locked down and no one, other than emergency services, will be allowed access. We are all anxious about the extent of the damage to the Rondebosch campus," said Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, the university's vice chancellor.
Around 4,000 students were evacuated on Sunday, The Guardian reported.
As of Monday morning, the fire was still ongoing. The blaze had moved past the university campus, and spread toward the area of Vredehoek, the city of Cape Town wrote on its official Twitter page.
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