South African bush fires claim 20 lives

Cape Town: The death toll from bush fires in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province has risen to 20, an official said on Wednesday.

The fires affected 1,100 households, destroyed scores of livestock and left swathes of crop and grazing land smouldering.

Lennox Mabaso, a spokesman for the local government ministry, said damages were expected to run into millions of rand (dollars).

"So far the official figure that we have at the disaster centre is 20 confirmed deaths, but the figures remain preliminary," Mabaso told Reuters.

Fanned by hot, dry, windy conditions, the fires were believed to have been started either by "human negligence or human error" said Mabaso.

The fires occurred mostly to the north of the east coast city of Durban, with Inkandla town among the worst hit. The region remained on alert during its fire warning season.

The fires also raged in the south eastern coastal area close to the port town Richards Bay. Tree plantations owned by Sappi Ltd, the world's No.1 maker of fine paper used in glossy magazines, were destroyed.

"This is one of the worst fire seasons we have ever had in this province, especially looking at the number of deaths," Mabaso said.

The provincial government was providing shelter and food to hundreds of victims, said Mabaso.