“The fire was reactivated on the roof of the building that houses the National Assembly,” shortly before 5:00 p.m., Jermaine Carelse, a spokesman for the city’s firefighters, told AFP.
Hours earlier, firefighters had reported that the fire was under control, so only about 10 troops remained at the scene.
After a few minutes, about thirty firefighters returned to Parliament And like the day before, they tried to put out the flames from the top of a crane.
The Library of Parliament, which has a unique collection of books, appears to have been saved from the flames.
The scale of the devastation caused by the incident that completely destroyed the headquarters of the National Assembly, the site of the end of apartheid in South Africa, has yet to be determined.
“Most of the damage is undoubtedly in this building, which will not be able to be used for several months,” Carelse said.
The complex consisted of three parts: the building that housed the National Assembly, another wing where the Upper House was called called the National Council of Provinces, and the oldest historical part, which is where parliamentarians used to meet.
The presidents of both chambers and members of the government plan to meet this Monday to take stock of the situation.
According to the first elements of the investigation, the fire had two outbreaks. In addition, the closure of a water intake prevented the automatic extinguishing system from working properly. A report will be sent in the next few hours to President Cyril Ramaphosa, who came to the scene on Sunday.
Police said Monday that they indicted a 49-year-old suspect who was detained inside the parliament compound.
The man – who will appear on Tuesday – was indicted on charges of “trespassing” and “criminal arson” and will also be tried for having attacked state property, the elite unit of the South African police said in a statement.
This is the second time in less than a year that the South African Parliament has been damaged by flames. A fire broke out in March and was quickly controlled.
Source From: Ambito
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