Man detained after fire damages South African Parliament
A massive fire broke out in Cape Town on Sunday morning, spreading to South Africa's Parliament complex and causing at least one building's roof to collapse, CNN reports. The National Assembly chamber was also damaged.
The blaze, which began only hours after the state funeral of anti-apartheid activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu, started in a nearby office building. According to The Associated Press, government officials originally said the fire was contained, but soon after it spread to the new Parliament building.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the building's sprinkler system appears to have malfunctioned and praised firefighters for preventing the total destruction of the building in which the National Assembly meets, BBC reports.
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Parliament is currently on its holiday recess and no injuries have been reported.
Speaker of the National Assembly Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula cautioned against hasty accusations of arson, but South African police have confirmed that a 51-year-old man "has been taken in for questioning to answer as to what has transpired."
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Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.
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