20 die in South African blazesRunaway fires driven by strong winds across South Africa South Africa, Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2005 est. pop. 44,344,000), 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. at the weekend killed at least 20 people, including two children, media reported Monday. An 18-year-old boy, eight-year-old girl and 11-year-old boy burnt to death, with five others hospitalised, in the Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, as well as the eastern portion of the Cape Province. province after fire engulfed their shack, the SAPA SAPA South African Press Association SAPA Società in Accomandita Per Azioni (Italy) SAPA Society of Army Physician Assistants SAPA Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site (US National Park Service) news agency reported police as saying. In northern part of KwaZulu-Natal, 14 people were killed while 25 others were taken to hospitals in several blazes that swept through the province, the EMRS See e-mail response management. ambulance service said in a statement. A six-year-old girl, a relative of African National Congress African National Congress (ANC), the oldest black (now multiracial) political organization in South Africa; founded in 1912. Prominent in its opposition to apartheid, the organization began as a nonviolent civil-rights group. leader Jacob Zuma, was killed when the corrugated iron roof flew off a homestead, public television reported. "There was a heavy wind that took my child away; it also carried my wife. I can't understand exactly how such a wind can take a human being," the girl's father said through a translator. Another three people died in the eastern Mpumalanga province. The dry South African winter -- together with strong winds -- create ideal conditions for fires to spread. SA Weather Service forecaster Evert e·vert v. To turn inside out or outward. evert to turn inside out; to turn outward. Scholtz said although the weekend cold front was moving away, another was expected this weekend that could bring more strong winds. He warned that field fires would continue raging as winds were still strong, especially in Swaziland, eastern Limpopo and northern KwaZulu-Natal. On Monday, the KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union (Kwanalu) said in a statement that land disputes may have been behind some of the fires, SAPA reported.
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