Runaway fires, strong winds cause widespread destruction
Trees felled, farms burnt to the ground, walls collapse in nature's fury
Reports of damage to farms and homes in the area continue to pour in following the strong Berg winds that battered the area yesterday.
Fires spread from Hattingspruit, to Glencoe and to Wasbank where at least one farm, Tweekoppies, the home of Faan and Francis Muller, was said to have burnt down.
Trees came stumbling down in France near Sibongile, in Forrestdale and in town.
Visibility was reduced to almost zero because of the dust and smoke in the air and at one stage, traffic police closed the Dundee/Vryheid road at Scheepersnek.
There was also large scale damage in Vryheid.
1 person has sadly sustained fatal injuries after a minibus has caught alight from a grass fire on the R34 near Vryheid pic.twitter.com/jo5g0Ealo5
— KZN EMS Spokesperson (@KZN_EMS_MEDIA) August 22, 2017
Earlier a taxi caught a light and totally burnt out near the Stillwaters hotel . “One person was declared dead at the scene while two others sustained 100% burn wounds. A total of 15 people were injured, one of them being a three-month-old baby,” said Belinda Catchpole, Area Manager, Media Liaison, Kwa-Zulu Private Ambulance.
All the patients were stabilised and transported to hospital by various services.
Reports are coming in that some farm workers sustained burn injuries. Cattle have already been lost in the fires as well as some farm houses that have burnt down.
Six hundred children had to be evacuated from the Landbou Agricultural School. They have all been taken to a safe location.
