CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Six firefighters have died battling a bushfire in South Africa’s eastern KwaZulu-Natal province and two others are in critical condition, emergency services said Monday.
Authorities said they suspected Sunday’s fire was started by poachers trying to trap animals to kill them.
Three firefighters died at the scene of the blaze near the town of Boston, about 130 kilometres inland from the east coast city of Durban, emergency services spokesman Roland Robertson said. He added that three other firefighters were treated and put on ventilators, but all died shortly after being admitted to hospital.
One firefighter remains on a ventilator in hospital, and another is also in critical condition, he said.
Robertson said some of the poachers were also believed to have been injured in the fires near private farms, as wind and drought caused the fires to burn out of control. No arrests of suspected poachers have been reported.
Wildfires ravaged other parts of KwaZulu-Natal last week due to heat and wind, killing at least seven others in different parts of the province, the local government said.
The fires come as the other side of South Africa has been hit by multiple storms, causing high winds and flooding.
A series of cold fronts from the Atlantic Ocean have caused widespread damage in Cape Town and surrounding areas in the country’s southwestern tip over the past 10 days. About 15,000 people have been affected and thousands of homes and other structures have been damaged or destroyed.
___
AP Africa News: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
