Maputo — The death toll from bush fires that swept through parts of the central Mozambican province of Sofala this week stood at 21 by Thursday, according to the provincial governor Alberto Vaquina, cited in the Beira daily paper "Diario de Mocambique".

The fires destroyed 722 houses and left 2,085 people sleeping in the open. 16,000 hectares of crops and of forest were destroyed, as were 239 peasant barns, with all the food stored in them. Four schools were also burnt down.

The fires affected parts of the districts of Gorongosa, Maringue, Chibabava, Nhamatanda, Cheringoma, Buzi, Machanga, and even suburbs of the provincial capital, Beira.

Bush fires are often deliberately set, by farmers in order to clear land for cultivation, or by poachers to smoke out wild animals. These fires were particularly serious because of high winds (of up to 60 kilometres an hour) on Monday night.

Most of the victims died that night. Fanned by the high winds, the flames overwhelmed them as they slept.

"Monday's storm worsened the fires", said Vaquina. "Earlier, they were on a small scale, relatively easy to control. But when the strong winds began, the fires spread across the districts, causing heavy damage".

Teams from the district governments are making a definitive assessment of the losses, and the government's relief agency, the National Disasters Management Institute (INGC), has sent 53 tents to assist those made homeless in Gorongosa and Nhamatanda, the worst affected districts, plus two tonnes of rice and other foodstuffs and hygiene items.

In the northern province of Nampula, a mysterious fire on Wednesday swept through two warehouses belonging to the Namialo Cotton Company (SANAM) destroying 3.500 tonnes of raw cotton. The company estimates the losses at 1.5 million US dollars.

SANAM Chairman Issufo Nurmomade told "Diario de Mlocambique" he did not understand how the fire started, though he admitted that a cigarette dropped on the floor by a careless worker might have caused the blaze.

It took 13 hours to bring the blaze under control, using fire fighting equipment from as far away as the port of Nacala. This effort was successful in stopping the flames from spreading to the other seven warehouses in the SANAM complex.

The cotton lost in the blaze is part of the 17,000 tonnes that SANAM has purchased from peasant farmers so far this year.