People had to be evacuated while the firefighters battled the flames at Carnival City. Photo: Twitter/@fisto_sumting
The Carnival City casino and hotel, in Brakpan, Gauteng, had to be evacuated on Saturday evening after a fire broke out.
The Brakpan and Benoni central fire stations, as well as the Tsakane fire station, attended the scene.
No injuries were reported.
Ekurhuleni Emergency Services spokesperson William Ntladi said they suspect the blaze started when an electrical short circuit caused the fiberglass material near the entrance of the casino to catch alight.
“On investigation, it was found that fiberglass material from outside entrance atrium caught alight suspected to have been caused by electrical short circuit,” said Ntladi.
Ntladi added that when emergency services arrived at the scene, firefighters immediately started the fire suppression. Once the flames were extinguished, damping down was conducted and the scene was declared safe.
Ntladi had earlier said that there were many people inside the hotel and casino when the fire started. They all had to be evacuated while the firefighters battled the flames.
In a statement on Saturday night, Carnival City said that authorities had given the all-clear for the casino to reopen. It added that the flames did not spread to the interior of the building.
“Although videos being shared on social media convey a sense of a large fire, this was not the case,” Carnival City said.
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The blaze at Carnival City comes after South Africa has seen numerous fires at government institutions this year. The first fire was at Parliament, when the Old Assembly and New Assembly buildings in the Parliamentary precinct caught alight.
That was followed by a fire at the Waterkloof Airforce Base. The SA National Defence Force (SANDF) said the fire erupted from a fuel pipeline above the ground.
ALSO READ: UPDATE: Waterkloof Airforce Base fire extinguished
A few days later, police opened an inquiry after the Komani Town Hall, which houses the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality, caught fire.
This is what people on social media had to say about the incident at Carnival City:
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