Firefighters on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast were on Tuesday monitoring the situation in a pine plantation in the Nyalazi area outside Mtubatuba after they managed to extinguish a ”vicious” fire that started on Sunday.
”We are still assessing the situation and the damage. The big fire engines have been sent back, but we have small trucks patrolling the area,” said Selby Biyela, the supervisor for protection services in the area.
Biyela said five fire engines and at least 20 firefighters had been battling the blaze since Sunday night. It is not known how the fire started.
Meanwhile, police in northern KwaZulu-Natal are still investigating Saturday’s incident in which four people, including three brothers, died in a fire in the Othelo Reserve in Umsinga.
Police spokesperson Buhle Ngidi said an inquest docket was opened after they found the badly burnt bodies of Njabulo Zulu (12), Dumiso Zulu (10), Mzokhona Zulu (9) and Gcinephi Zondi (26) in a veld.
Ngidi said it appeared as if they were trying to escape from a fire on the Elandskraal farm when they died. — Sapa