Emergency services confirmed on Monday that six firemen perished fighting a severe blaze in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa; two others are still in serious condition.
Authorities believe poachers trying to trap animals may have started the fire that broke out on Sunday. About 130 kilometres (80 miles) inland from the coastal metropolis of Durban, the fire happened close to the hamlet of Boston.
Three firefighters died on scene, according to spokesman for emergency services Roland Robertson. Three others were first treated and put on ventilators, but soon after hospital admission they passed away from their injuries. One firefighter is in critical condition while another is still on a ventilator.
Robertson said several poachers were also thought to have been hurt when the fires, fanned by wind and dry circumstances, raged wildly close to private properties. No suspected poachers have, however, been arrested according to reports.
Driven by heat and wind, the Boston bushfire is a part of a sequence of wildfires that have devastated several areas of KwaZulu-Natal over the past week. Local government records indicate that at least seven other persons have died around the province from these flames.
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The western portion of South Africa has been dealing with somewhat distinct kinds of severe weather at the same time. Several storms have seriously damaged by bringing gale-force winds and floods. Over the past 10 days, a run of cold fronts from the Atlantic Ocean has pounded Cape Town and its environs. Approximately 15,000 individuals have been affected, with thousands of homes and structures damaged or destroyed.
The contrast between the terrible storms in Cape Town and the fatal bushfires in KwaZulu-Natal emphasizes the severe and diverse effects of extreme weather events all around South Africa.
