South Africa parliament building badly damaged in fire

In South Africa, a  major fire at the  parliament caused extensive damage on Sunday, collapsing the roof and gutting an entire floor in one building, while a man in his was arrested in connection with the blaze. The blaze, which began shortly after 06:00 local time (04:00 GMT), came the day after Archbishop Desmond Tutu's state funeral at St George's Cathedral, near parliament. Praising firefighters, Presidet Cyril Ramaphosa said they had responded to the fire in six minutes. Without their intervention the National Assembly would have been reduced to ashes, he added. Ramaphosa visited the scene and called it a terrible and devastating event.

Dozens of firefighters battled the flames. Officials later said that the entire parliamentary complex was severely damaged. It is also reported that nobody is injured and there's no indication of what may have started it. Fire and rescue service officials said it could take several more hours to put the fire out completely because of the carpets and wooden floors in the building. 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. Member of parliament Steve Swart called the fire “tragic” and told reporters at the scene that MPs will continue their work remotely. The fire, which started just before 6 am, was the second at the parliament in less than a year. In March there was a blaze caused by an electrical fault.