Swift action by staff in Parliament prevented a fire from causing serious damage to the historic building in Cape Town.
|||Cape Town - Swift action by staff in Parliament prevented a fire from causing serious damage to the historic building in Cape Town on Friday.
"A fire broke out in a room between the Old Assembly and National Council of Provinces buildings on Friday," Parliament said in a statement on Monday.
No injuries were reported and only a few clothing materials and "unidentified objects" were damaged.
"Parliament's Protection Services reacted quickly and doused the fire... An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway and more details will be released in due course."
The statement did, however, make reference to smoking in the parliamentary precinct.
"Over the past two weeks, Parliament has erected more "No Smoking" signs at entrances and other strategic points in the precinct.
"This is to comply with the relevant regulations and to ensure that parliamentary buildings are smoke free and to protect non-smokers from health hazards posed by smoking."
Sapa