Daughter IDs arson suspect
2006-01-27 00:00
Cape Town - A 36-year-old British man is being held in connection with the wildfires which swept Table Mountain on Thursday afternoon and raged unabated into the night.
Police spokesperson Tummi Godling said that, in addition to being charged with arson, he faces a culpable homicide charge after the death of an elderly British woman in the fire.
Another spokesperson, André Traut, said the 65-year-old woman was killed while she walked with her daughter on the mountain.
Godling said information provided by the daughter led to the arrest of the suspected arsonist.
The dead woman was not identified pending notification of her family.
Rescue workers found three German tourists on the mountain unharmed.
Cleeve Robertson, the head of Metro Rescue Services, said two British tourists were admitted to hospital with injuries that were not life threatening.
He also said two people were stranded on a rock below the cablecar on Table Mountain, but were not in immediate danger.
Police said fewer people than usual may have been on the mountain because high winds forced the closure of the cablecar before the fires broke out.
- AP