A forest fire swept through the University of Cape Town …

A fire was declared this Sunday on Table Mountain, the summit that dominates City of Cap, in the far south of South Africa, official sources from the city and the nature park reported.

The fire started in the morning and in the afternoon, it was still not under control.

The fire partially destroyed the restaurant next to a memorial of British Colonel Cecil Rhodes and reached several buildings in the The cap University, located lower, according to AFP journalists on the site.

Hundreds of students left their residences on foot, walking along the main road to escape the blaze and take refuge, journalists observed.

Table Mountain National Park, which encompasses much of the undeveloped areas of the city, appealed in the morning, especially on social networks, for hikers to immediately evacuate the area and for all those who have cars parked nearby to take them elsewhere.

Firefighters were notified shortly before 9 a.m. local time (4 a.m. in Argentina), according to the city council. Reinforcements and four helicopters have been deployed, the same source reported.

More than 100 firefighters and emergency personnel were dispatched to the university campus and to the National Park. The four helicopters dumped water from large containers they were carrying suspended, then returned to load them again. The comings and goings of the machines were incessant, they stressed. authorities.

The first official information was released by the government from its official Twitter account.

South African National Parks (SANParks), in charge of Table Mountain National Park, have warned that the blaze “is currently (at press time) out of control.”