South Africa's popular tourism spot and biodiversity hotspot Table Mountain is on fire, which led to the evacuation of visitors and university students nearby, sources said on Sunday.

The fire and rescue service of Cape Town, where Table Mountain is located, was alerted to a vegetation fire above Philip Kgosana Drive, eastern flank of the mountain, about 8:45 a.m. local time (6:45 a.m. GMT) and fire crews were immediately dispatched to the scene, the city municipality said via its Twitter handle.

The fire was spreading from Rhodes Memorial, which was in memory to British colonialist Cecil John Rhodes, towards the nearby University of Cape Town, it said.

A section of the tea room at Rhodes Memorial has been destroyed, it said, urging people not to enter the area.

Three helicopters were bringing water from the sea to assist in fire extinction. Fires were seen from roads and neighborhoods close to the mountain, and residents living more than 15 km away clearly witnessed heavy smoke rising from the scene.

SANParks warned that the fire "is currently out of control" and urged all hikers within the memorial, and Newlands, north of the memorial to evacuate with immediate effect and cars parked within these sections to move as a matter of urgency.

A video shared by local media showed that there was an explosion at Rhodes Memorial's restaurant in the fire.

The University of Cape Town, which was smoke-choked, confirmed that all its students have been evacuated from campus by emergency services support staff.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, which lies against the eastern slopes of the mountain, as well as a major road linked to the mountain were closed due to the fire.