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Major fire in Cape Town: Unique documents destroyed

2021-04-20T03:17:02.511Z


A bush fire destroyed parts of the University of Cape Town and destroyed valuable sources on African history. What is known so far about the damage in the almost 200 year old Jagger library.


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Flames behind the windows: The fire also destroyed the almost two centuries old library of the University of Cape Town

Photo: 

NIC BOTHMA / EPA

The old center of the University of Cape Town is in a picturesque location: right at the foot of Table Mountain.

On a flank of the city's natural landmark it was already blazing on several hectares on Sunday.

For many hours the campus was shrouded in clouds of smoke.

The special collection of the university library also fell victim to the flames.

Except for four firefighters who had to be treated with burns in the hospital, apparently no people were harmed.

Thousands of students fled their accommodation and, like the teaching staff, could be brought to safety in good time.

The university building with its pillar porch from the 1930s remains closed for the time being, at least three individual buildings were badly damaged.

The fire is likely to have irretrievably destroyed some of the university library's special collections, which were housed in a separate building, the Jagger Library.

Extinguishing the fire from the air with special helicopters got underway quickly and has now been completed, but fire and water have caused irreparable damage.

"Severe worry and shock"

The University of Cape Town was founded in 1829.

The Jagger Library housed a wealth of unique sources on African history, including rich audio and visual documents from more recent times.

The stock of books and magazines alone is estimated at around 85,000 pieces;

including many prints from the era before 1925.

In addition, the house functioned as a kind of archive: Over 1300 smaller special collections of manuscripts and estate materials are stored here, which give unique insights into the recent history of South Africa in particular.

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The Jagger library after the fire: fire and water destroyed valuable holdings

Photo: Jerome Delay / AP

Some of these treasures have already been digitally secured and the fire alarm systems were working. Dan Plato, the mayor of Cape Town, expressed moderate relief: "Some of the most valuable works could be saved thanks to the activation of safety sliding doors, I was told."

Nonetheless, it is likely that one-off certificates and documents were destroyed in the disaster, as confirmed by Ujala Satgoor, the university library's administrative director.

"Completely devastated" is a unique collection of African archives and the reading room on the ground floor.

"We will not be able to fully see the damage until the building has been declared accessible," she said and expressed on Twitter "serious concern and shock in view of the losses".

A picture of the Jagger Library with flames flaring up behind its windows appalled experts around the world.

South Africa's oldest windmill burned down

Table Mountain and the national park surrounding it are under nature protection.

Serious fires are common in South Africa's dry season.

However, it was the first severe fire in the region in the season from mid-November to April.

According to Mayor Plato, the spread was stopped on Monday lunchtime, even if isolated nests of fire flared up again and again.

The fire broke out on Sunday morning - probably homeless people left a fireplace unguarded on the edge of the property, and then strong winds from the north fanned the flames.

Several square kilometers of bush burned down before the fire reached the university campus.

Temperatures of up to 33 degrees currently prevail in Cape Town.

In the meantime, a man has been arrested as a possible originator of the fire.

The flames have definitely destroyed an honorable historical relic: the Mostert mill from 1796, which is the oldest working windmill in South Africa and reminds of the long history of the country on the Cape, and four thatched houses next to it.

But buildings can usually be restored - unique documents cannot.

lmd / dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-04-20

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