“That room was the very heart of UCT. Its loss is immeasurable.”
Ujala Satgoor, executive director of libraries at UCT, said she and others had watched, on site, “in horror and helplessness as this elegant and historical library” burnt.
As images emerged of its once-beautiful interior now lying in ashes, Satgoor said she could “only imagine the shock and horror” everyone felt.
After the fire: the Jagger Reading Room.
Image: Anthony Molyneaux
For Dr Ian-Malcolm Rijsdijk, a senior lecturer in film and television studies, the soot and rubble are what remain of the place that sparked his entire academic career.