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16 DIE AS STORMS AND FIRES RAGE OVER THE COUNTRY

WILD WATERS: Waves crash into beach bungalows and the Sea Rescue shed at Bakoven. The rescue boat was removed before the storm hit. © Andrew Ingram.
WILD WATERS: Waves crash into beach bungalows and the Sea Rescue shed at Bakoven. The rescue boat was removed before the storm hit. © Andrew Ingram.

Disastrous weather conditions at the weekend, ranging from snow to fires, killed 16 people, among them two children, officials said yesterday.

Disastrous weather conditions at the weekend, ranging from snow to fires, killed 16 people, among them two children, officials said yesterday.

Three people, including an eight-year-old and 11-year-old, burnt to death and five others were hospitalised in the Eastern Cape after their shack caught alight during a veld fire, police said.

In KwaZulu-Natal, 13 people were killed in blazes that ripped through the province, the emergency services workers said.

In Turffontein, Johannesburg, a five-year-old girl was injured when a tree fell on her during a windy spell on Sunday, Netcare 911 said.

In Cape Town, mop-up operations continued after storms battered the Western Cape and snowfall was recorded in Ceres and the Hex River mountains.

Evert Scholtz of the South African Weather Service said although the past weekend's cold front was moving away, another cold front was expected this coming weekend.

"This is almost typical weather for August-September with late winds and early spring. There are hot conditions but you still get cold fronts hitting the Cape," he said.

He warned that veld fires would continue raging because winds were still strong, especially in Swaziland, eastern Limpopo and northern KwaZulu-Natal.

Free State police said that two houses burnt down in Bethlehem and livestock was killed in veld fires. - Sapa

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