The City of Cape Town has deployed all of its fire and rescue teams to contain a raging inferno that took down a monument of African history, the Rhode Memorial and its budding restaurant.
Cape Town fire: What’s the latest?
About seven hours into the fiery encounter, rescuers and volunteers from Working on Fire and Table Mountain National Park have honed in on a region close to the University of Cape Town, where students and homeowners were evacuated.
Houses on fire in Newlands. This is so scary. Footage by Anton Crone on IG https://t.co/VFcII1U4wN #capetownfire pic.twitter.com/58mdbL5CqZ
— Diana (@miss_moss) April 18, 2021
Praying for the students, the communities in the affected areas and for all those fighting the fire. #capetownfire
— Mmusi Maimane (@MmusiMaimane) April 18, 2021
pic.twitter.com/G24jt8RQUi
This woman, who was out and about near Rhodes Memorial, gave an account of how the fire impacted her.
I think my Car has been destroyed as I cannot reach Rhodes Memorial and think I managed to outrun the fire -can anyone tell me if the cars at Rhodes Memorial are safe and where do I need to run to get away from the fire? Newlands Forest? @wo_fire @cptfrs #fire #CapeTown pic.twitter.com/d0xICuvupS
— Lisette Lombard (@LisLombard) April 18, 2021
At this time, metro police and other law enforcement units have come out in droves to divert traffic away from the upper south side of Cape Town.
Follow the latest on road closures in Cape Town, on Sunday 18 April 2021.
Watch: Rhodes Memorial restaurant explosion
At this time, it is unclear what started the fire. The highest priority for rescuers is to ensure the safety of people and animals and thus far, no reports of serious injuries or deaths have been made.
Perhaps, the most shocking display of the veracity of the Cape Town inferno came when the Rhodes Memorial restaurant exploded.
No word has come from the establishment on the extent of the damage suffered but it’s fair to speculate that most parts of it have been reduced to ash.
Here is footage of the Rhodes Memorial restaurant explosion as it happened:
Cape Town – Fire on the mountain (Update): Rhodes Memorial Restaurant pic.twitter.com/KR0nyogRAn
— Rob Beezy (@TrafficSA) April 18, 2021
