Two of the four game rangers who were severely burn by last week’s fires in Akagera National Park are dead. Emmanuel Habuhazi and Emmanuel Sharite passed away on Sunday at King Faisal Hospital (KFH), where they had been admitted since last Tuesday. The other two; Theogene Dushime and Jean Bosco Karemera are still receiving treating but in critical condition, doctors said yesterday. The quartet got trapped and burnt as they tried to contain the wild raging fires, set off by suspected poachers, on August 21 in Magash, the northeastern part of the park. In a statement, Office of National Parks and Tourism (ORTPN) said that the rangers were rushed to Nyagatare Hospital but transferred a day later to Faisal in Kigali. The Chief Park warden, Robert Komire, who was at the scene said that the four rangers got trapped as the wind changed direction and so did the fires. “This made it hard for them to escape,” he explained. KFH acting Director General, Alfred Ntaganda, said the surviving rangers are now in intensive care unit where doctors are closely monitoring their conditions. There has been a spate of wild fires in the park in the recent past, with local tourism authorities blaming the incidents on Tanzanian poachers. Subsequently, ORTPN had promised to beef up security around the savannah park, which was also considerably reduced in size due to a high influx of population following the 1994 Rwanda Genocide. Tourism officials said they were still assessing the damage caused by the recent fires.Ends
