Fire sweeps Table Mountain

Helicopters have taken to the air to drop tons of water on the flames still raging in places on Table Mountain. The fire caused the death of an elderly woman and severely damaged a number of expensive homes in Cape Town.
The main concern this morning is about the safety of the occupants of four hired cars that have been found parked on the lower reaches of the mountain near the Cable Way entrance. Nobody has yet come forward to claim the vehicles. Firemen spent an exhausting night trying desperately to quell the flames as a raging south-easterly wind fanned the blaze.
The fire is believed to have been started by a smouldering cigarette tossed out of a car window by a British tourist, who has since been arrested.
The suspect will appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s court this morning to face a charge of culpable homicide.
The fire has been described as one of the most dangerous in years on the mountain. The daughter of the 65-year-old woman who was killed, a British tourist, has reportedly identified the man who started the fire. At least seven people, including two British and three German tourists, had to be rescued from the slopes of the mountain as the flames raced towards them.
Pic: Adrian Louw