TWO field rangers who were badly burnt during a devastating fire in the Kruger National Park will undergo skin graft operations as soon as they are stable, said intensive care unit sister at Nelspruit’s Medi-Clinic hospital, Ann Young, on Thursday. The heavily bandaged Moses Lekhuleni, sustained third degree burn wounds to 50% of his body and is on a respirator. His colleague, Sandros Ngwenya, is also in a critical condition after suffering third degree burn wounds to 27% of his body. “Their condition is very critical and there is nothing we can do until they condition is stable,” said Sister Young. The two men were injured while trying to rescue female contract workers whose campsite near Pretoriuskop in the south of the world-famous park was engulfed by the flames on Tuesday night. The fire killed 19 of the women, who came from a neighbouring community and were hired to cut grass in the park, and four park officials. It destroyed 45 000 hectares of land, killed 20 elephants, 30 impala and rhino. The Napi Trails camp east of Pretoriuskop was engulfed by the fire, but eight trailists were safely evacuated. Kruger National Park director David Mabunda said he had sent three teams to help speed up the process of identifying the deceased. Two independent psychologists and an industrial psychologist from South African National Parks (SANParks) have also been assigned to help the families. – African Eye News Service