Fire at South African wood processing plant lasts five days
JOHANNESBURG, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- As of Oct. 4, local time in South Africa, the fire at a wood processing plant in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province has lasted for five days, but the fire has still not been extinguished.
The fire started on 29 September, but the fire department is still trying to extinguish the blaze due to its excessive size. Also according to the fire department, the cause of this fire is still under investigation. Preliminary statistics show that the damage caused by the fire has exceeded 3 billion rand (about 1.2 billion yuan), and the damage will continue to rise with the fire.
According to the South African government, a large amount of smoke was generated at the fire scene, resulting in low visibility in the surrounding area. Meanwhile, while firefighters are fighting the fire on the ground, the fire department has also sent firefighting helicopters to conduct aerial relief operations. The fire department confirmed that the top priority for the firefighting is to ensure that the fire does not spread to neighbouring houses and buildings and to avoid the fire from expanding in scope.
Fortunately, the fire accident did not cause any casualties.
