'Disaster of epic proportions' as raging fire burns in Knysna
'Knysna is burning down. This is a disaster of epic proportions. I'm stuck in fleeing traffic. Not sure I'll have a home tomorrow'
This story is being updated as it develops Up to 10 000 residents were forced to flee their homes in Knysna overnight as fires fuelled by storm winds ripped through the Western Cape coastal town. Provincial local governance spokesman James-Brent Styan confirmed‚ in an update at 1am on Thursday‚ that 8000 to 10 000 evacuations had taken place in the town of 77 000 residents. “The fire in Knysna is the largest and most destructive fire in a built up area in the Western Cape in recent memory with thousands displaced. It comes on the back of the worst storm seen in the Western Cape in at least thirty years‚” said an update issued by Styan. A powerful storm that lashed Cape Town and the runaway fires in Knysna have claimed at least eight lives. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) confirmed one more fatality in the Knysna area‚ reportedly due to a heart attack and unrelated to the storm. As the fire raged through the night‚ emergency services evacuated the suburbs of Brenton‚ Belvedere‚ Welb...
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