UCT students have all returned and settled in to residences after Cape Town fire
By Sisonke Mlamla
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Cape Town - Displaced UCT students who were evacuated during last monthâs wildfire have returned to their residences.
UCT student representative council (SRC) chairperson Declan Dyer said the past week has been traumatic for many students. Dyer said that with the majority of evacuated students back in residence, it was time for deep reflection and gratitude.
The Table Mountain fire affected large parts of the UCTâs Rondebosch campus on April 18, resulting in the emergency evacuation of about 4 000 students. While most were put up in more than 20 hotels across the city, others were taken in by friends and family members.
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UCT students housed in hotels across Cape Town after Rhodes Memorial fire
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Cape Town: The University of Cape Town was able to house evacuated students in hotels across the city after a fire broke out on campus on Sunday night.
A fire alarm cued students to evacuate some of their residences at the university.
UCT said all students had been evacuated from campus by emergency services support staff. They were taken to predetermined locations.
Late on Sunday evening, UCT SRC chairperson Declan Dyer said that after the evacuation, they proceeded to a rendezvous point at Mowbray Bus Terminus.
She added that food and emergency accommodation had been arranged for the students evacuated on Sunday.
Many students recalled Sunday s ordeal as a day of panic and confusion.
They were told to pack their essentials and were then transported from the campus in a haze of smoke.
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Economics student Mathew Field said the day was apocalyptic, like a scene from a movie . Students were on campus studying for tests, while others were sleeping at [the residences] when suddenly the sky turned grey and red, he said.
A University of Cape Town library burns after a wildfire spread from the slopes of Table Mountain the university.
Rhodes Memorial wildfire: Capetonians urged to avoid UCT area as firefighters tackle blaze
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Cape Town - Residents in the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town have been advised to avoid the area surrounding the University of Cape Town (UCT) as a wildfire rages on.
MEC of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning in the Western Cape, Anton Bredell, said that the wildfire is raging on the slopes of Table Mountain and remains out of control at the moment.
“Sections of the M3 has been closed to traffic. SANParks has urged all hikers within the Newlands and Rhodes Memorial areas have been urged to evacuate the mountain with immediate effect.