Cape Town: A large fire is raging at the Houses of Parliament in the South African city of Cape Town. Video footage showed 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.
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 was still burning, reported BBC
"The roof of the building has collapsed on the one side and the fire has spread to the new assembly, according to the officers. "They've detected large cracks in the wall, which is of concern. The firefighters report that they were on scene for some time before the fire detection system first triggered and then sounded the alert. So, it does appear that that system was somewhat delayed."
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.
Source:BBC, Reuters