LOCAL

Cape Town firefighters are battling a blaze in a building in Parliament Avenue. Councillor JP Smith says six firefighting vehicles and approximately 36 firefighters are on the scene.

The fire is burning on the third floor, with initial reports indicating it started in the office space and is spreading toward the gymnasium.

The roof area has caught alight and the National Assembly building is on fire too.

Smith says the fire has not been contained and reports of cracks in some walls of the building have been confirmed.

The Fire and Rescue Services have confirmed that they were on scene at Parliament 6 minutes after the call was received and that they were already on scene when the fire detection alarms at Parliament activate it for the first time.

The fire has resulted in road closures at Plein Street at Roeland; Commercial and Barrack as well as dditional Road closure – Roeland closed at Hope Street, St. John’s Street closed at Vrede Str. & Commercial closed at Buitenkant Street.