CommuTalk Reporter
GWERU: Two people were burnt to death in separate fire incidents recently in Midlands.
The first incident occurred in Mberengwa where a 75 year old woman was burnt in a thatched kitchen, while the second one happened in Lower Gweru.
Police confirmed both incidents and urged the people to be cautious when using fire.
Police said Anna Siziba (75) was burnt beyond recognition as she tried to extinguish a hut that had caught fire.
It is alleged that Siziba and her sister Lilian Nungu (78) prepared tea in a grass-thatched hut at their home at Village Mhlabeni under Chief Chizungu in Mberengwa.
The two did not put off the fire when they finished brewing their tea and sat outside while drinking.
“A whirlwind blew through the yard and some strands of thatch grass which were in the hut caught fire resulting in the whole hut being burnt,” police spokesperson Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko said.
He said Siziba went inside the hut in a bid to put off the fire but the inferno engulfed her and burnt her beyond recognition.
In the second incident, a 20-year-old man was burnt to death in a butchery at Mission Business Centre, Lower Gweru.
Mahoko said the victim Leeroy Mpofu of Guduza Village, under Chief Sogwala, Lower Gweru, was employed by Nkosana Sibanda (45) from the same Lower Gweru area as a butchery attendant at the business centre.
On the fateful night Darlington Mufundisi (28) who works in a neighbouring shop heard a bursting sound and screams.
Mufundisi went outside and discovered that Sibanda’s butchery was on fire, with Mpofu trapped inside.
He called for help from other people at the business centre and they all gathered and tried to put out the fire but all efforts were in vain.
Mpofu’s body was found lying in the butchery.
Police said investigations are underway to establish the cause of the fire.
