From the Citizen

a local newpaper:-
(No, I didn't ask for permission, I refer to them here....
http://www.citizen.co.za/index/article.aspx?pDesc=44352,1,22

22 die as fires rage countrywide

CNS REPORTERS and SAPA

JOHANNESBURG – At least 22 people and thousands of animals have been killed in fires raging across the country, and the death toll is rising.

In KwaZulu-Natal no fewer than nine people, including a six-year-old child, died when fires swept through Mayville, Winterton and Dumbu. About 200 shacks were destroyed.
In Winterton, 24 people were seriously burned and had to be taken to hospital.

Fires raging in Mpumalanga have caused the loss of no fewer than 13 lives since Friday, and by late yesterday fire-fighters were still trying to contain blazes in large parts of the province.
Five members of a fire-fighting team, one of whom drowned after driving into a river, died at Graskop.

Five sawmills were razed in the Graskop and Sabie areas and an estimated 25 000 hectares of forest were destroyed.

A worker at a sawmill died and the bodies of four workers were found by police in Misty Hills, near the Long Tom Pass.

A “red” fire index and wind speeds of up to 90km/h have seriously hampered the efforts of the fire-fighting teams and thousands of hectares of forestry land are still being threatened.

The South African Air Force has deployed two Oryx helicopters to help the fire-fighting effort.
Fire-fighters in Mpumalanga released a statement saying every possible fire-fighter was being utilised as well as a number of fire- fighting aircraft – fixed wing and helicopters.

An estimated 270 hours have been flown over the past three days in fire-fighting missions.
The disaster started to unfold on Friday when the first fires were reported near Pilgrim’s Rest, spreading to neighbouring Graskop.

By 10pm on Friday the fires were endangering the residents of Graskop with fires in the town itself, which then suffered a total electricity blackout.

Residents and tourists gathered in the church hall while emergency workers battled to contain fires. A number of business premises were razed while high winds ripped the roofs of some buildings. In Sabie, homes were threatened and forest residents abandoned their houses.
Poor visibility due to high volumes of smoke led to the closure on Saturday of the main routes to Sabie, Graskop and Long Tom Pass,

Smoke and fire residue now covers most of the Lowveld.

Sappi’s spokesman in Nelspruit, Elsabe Coetsee, said last night fires were still raging and the company had more than 400 fire-fighters on the ground. Komatiland Forests spokesman Magriet van der Westhuizen said fires on five company plantations were still burning uncontained.

Mpumalanga’s MEC for local government and housing, Ms Candith Mashego-Dlamini, visited the area yesterday. Her spokesman, Simpiwe Kunene, said the department was aware of the extent of the disaster and a joint operations committee was monitoring the situation.

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) said it had sent seven emergency teams to various hot spots around the country. These had reported the burning to death of thousands of animals.

The emergency teams have had to put down many animals which had been burned but not killed by the blazes, NSPCA executive director Marcel Meredith said.

Another NSPCA spokesman, Christine Kuch, said the members of the teams had been dispatched also to aid trapped or injured animals. – Lowvelder.

Last updated

30/07/2007 10:16:48

Salagatle!