Skip to main content
Apr 19, 2021 - World

In photos: Students evacuated as wildfire burns historic Cape Town buildings

Rebecca Falconer
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire in the Jagger Library, at the University of Cape Town, after a forest fire came down the foothills of Table Mountain on April 18

Firefighters try to extinguish a fire in the Jagger Library, at the University of Cape Town, after a forest fire came down the foothills of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa, on Sunday. Photo: Rodger Bosch/AFP via Getty Images

A massive wildfire spread from the foothills of Table Mountain to the University of Cape Town Sunday, burning historic South African buildings and forcing the evacuation of 4,000 students, per Times Live.

The big picture: Visitors to the Table Mountain National Park and other nearby attractions were also evacuated and several roads, including a major highway, were closed. South Africa's oldest working windmill and the university's Jagger Library, which houses South African antiquities, were among the buildings damaged.

A helicopter flies near a smoke cloud due to a forest fire burning out of control on the foothills of Table Mountain in Cape Town, on April 18
A helicopter flies near a smoke cloud from the Cape Town fire. Mostert's Mill, built in 1796, is among the historical structures damaged in the fire, Mayor Dan Plato said. Photo: Rodger Bosch/AFP via Getty Images
Firefighters carry a colleague who collapsed due to the smoke and the heat, as a forest fire burns out of control on the foothills of Table Mountain in Cape Town
Firefighters carry a colleague who's collapsed from the smoke and the heat from the Table Mountain fire. At least one firefighter has been treated for burns, according to Plato. Photo: Rodger Bosch/AFP via Getty Images
Students evacuate from their residences of the University of Cape Town as a forest fire burns out of control on the foothills of Table Mountain in Cape Town, on April 18
The fire has forced University of Cape Town students to evacuate from their residences. Photo: Rodger Bosch/AFP via Getty Images
Firefighters try, in vain, to extinguish a fire in the Jagger Library, at the University of Cape Town
Flames engulf the Jagger Library. Photo: Rodger Bosch/AFP via Getty Images
Go deeper