Sunday, June 24, 2007

Eastern Cape fires kill six, 14 hurt

Five people have died and 14 have been hurt after a fire gutted a hut at Theko Springs in Centane in the Eastern Cape. The blaze occurred early this morning. The deceased include a three year-old boy.

They were part of a rite of passage for girls, known as intonjane, at the village. Jackson Manatha, a police spokesperson, says: “It is said that the father heard screams from hut and when they came out to see what was wrong, they tried to remove some people inside. Unfortunately a total of five people died including a 66 year-old woman who was guardian of two girls, her 3 year-old grandson”.

In a separate incident, an elderly woman has died after a veld fire spread uncontrollably at Lambasi village in Lusikisiki in the Transkei.

A large area of grazing land has been reduced to a black patch. When the fire was noticed, villagers came out in large numbers to douse it before it could reach their homesteads. It appears the 70 year-old woman was caught in the flames and smoke. She died on the scene. - SABC

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