toward central Cape Town on Monday after ravaging university buildings, while firefighters battled strong winds in their efforts to control it and officials evacuated residential areas.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, with one suspect taken into custody overnight, city official safety chief JP Smith said. "It is not only the historic buildings themselves that have been lost, but their contents and collections," said the Cape Town Heritage trust in a statement written from an office"enveloped in a pall of smoke".At least three UCT buildings have suffered major damage, including the African studies section of the library - named after South African businessman and benefactor John William Jagger - and its parquet-floored reading room.
Dozens of terrified students had fled their dormitories on foot the previous day, spilling out along the main road.The sky"was orange, there was ash everywhere and everyone was screaming. It was chaos." Hundreds of students housed closer to the blaze have been moved to temporary accommodation, with donors sending food and other essentials.