A suspect was arrested in connection to the major fire that ripped through South Africa‘s 138-year-old Parliament complex on Sunday. Authorities confirmed that the case had been handed over to an elite police unit called the Hawks.

Authorities said that the sprinkler system at the parliament complex appeared to have been tampered with. Firefighters, in the afternoon, struggled to tame the blaze, a dark plume of smoke and flames rose high into the air above the southern city of Cape Town. There were no reports of any injuries.

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A person, in his 50s, was arrested inside the parliament, Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia De Lille told reporters. 

“It’s the role of the Hawks to investigate any attack on political institutions,” De Lille said.

The minister added that the cause of the blaze is not known yet but according to a report she received, a standard maintenance fire drill had been conducted just before parliament closed for the Christmas and New Year holidays and everything including the sprinklers was working.

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“What was discovered this morning is that somebody has closed one of the valves and so then there was no water to trigger that automatic sprinkler system coming on,” De Lille said. 

She further added that CCTV footage confirmed that somebody was in the building from the early hours of the morning.

Visiting the scene, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said a person was “being held and is being questioned” by police in connection with the blaze. 

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Officials said the fire started in the Old Assembly building, which was built in 1884 and originally housed the South African Parliament but is now used for offices. It spread to the newer National Assembly building, built in the 1980s, which is where the Parliament now sits.

Authorities feared extensive damage to both buildings, which have stark white facades, elaborate roof linings and majestic columns, now all obscured by flames and smoke. There were also fears that priceless artifacts inside, including a manuscript where the composer first wrote some lyrics for South Africa’s national anthem, would be lost forever.

With inputs from the Associated Press