CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Six firefighters have died battling a bushfire in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa and another two are in critical condition, emergency services said Monday.
Authorities said they suspect that Sunday's fire may have been started by poachers trying to trap animals to kill.
Three firefighters died at the scene of the fire near the town of Boston, around 130 kilometers inland from the east coast city of Durban, emergency services spokesperson Roland Robertson said. He said another three firefighters were treated and put on ventilators, but they all died soon after being admitted to the hospital.
One firefighter is still on a ventilator in the hospital, and another is also in critical condition, he said.
Robertson said some of the poachers were also believed to have been injured in the fires near private farms as wind and dry ground caused them to burn out of control. No arrests of suspected poachers were reported.
Wildfires have burned in other parts of KwaZulu-Natal for the last week due to the heat and the wind, leaving at least seven other people dead in various parts of the province, the local government has said.
The fires come as the other side of South Africa has been battered by multiple storms, bringing gale-force winds and flooding.
A series of cold fronts coming in from the Atlantic Ocean has caused widespread damage in Cape Town and surrounding areas on the southwest tip of the country over the last 10 days. Around 15,000 people have been affected and thousands of homes and other structures damaged or destroyed.
