Chronicle Editor
Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday News Reporter
AN alert pupil saved the lives of 51 others when he sounded the alarm in the early hours of Friday when he sensed a fire, giving them a chance to escape before a devastating blaze razed a dormitory to a shell at the Brethren in Christ-run Matopo High School in Matabeleland South Province.
The fire, whose cause is yet to be fully ascertained, brought down the roof, shattered windows and left beds sitting on charred steel bases as it ripped through the Peter M Mlotshwa Hostel, which housed 50 Form 2 pupils and two Form 6 dormitory prefects.
When a Sunday News crew visited the school yesterday, shell-shocked parents who were there for the school’s consultation day were shocked at the scale of destruction while concerned school authorities counted their losses. All were in disbelief that no lives had been lost in the fire.
The dormitory was the school’s pride and joy, being the latest to be commissioned on 5 October 2019 by Bishop Sindah Ngulube.
In a statement, Brethren in Christ Church confirmed that the fire had destroyed all the property in the dormitory.
“We regret to inform the public of a devastating fire incident that occurred at Matopo High School in the early hours of Friday, the 5th of July 2024. The fire broke out in the boys’ dormitory, resulting in the complete destruction of property.
“The dormitory houses 52 learners. Everything including 52 school trunks, 52 beds, their uniforms, and extra clothing was burnt to ashes. Fortunately, due to the swift action of our students and staff, no lives were lost. All learners managed to escape safely,” the statement read.
The church said the cause of the fire was still under investigation by relevant authorities. “The cause of the fire is still under investigation by the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) Fire Brigade and Zesa, but we are committed to ensuring transparency and accountability. Our thoughts are with the affected learners, their families and the school during this difficult time.
“We express our gratitude to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), Bulawayo City Council (BCC) Fire Brigade Department, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education officials who promptly arrived at the scene to offer their hand. The safety and well-being of our learners remain our top priority, and we will take all necessary measures to prevent such incidents in the future,” said the church.
In an interview with Sunday News, Matopo High School headmaster Mr Gardson Sibanda said the loss of life and limb may have been averted by the actions of a pupil who was awake when the fire started.
“None of the pupils got any injuries. The lucky thing is that one of them was awake when it started. He saw the smoke, went to investigate the fire then swiftly reported and alerted the others,” he said.
Mr Sibanda said that their preliminary findings suggested that an electrical fault was the cause of the inferno. He said it was unlikely that the fire had been started by any mischief from pupils.
“An electrical fault has been cited as the cause of the fire but that is not conclusive yet. We invited the Bulawayo Fire Brigade so we are hoping to get their summaries very soon. We would also be really happy to hear the true cause of the fire because the kids were asleep. At 1 AM you can’t blame the kids because it is safe to conclude that at that time they were fast asleep,” he said.
Mr Sibanda said that after the fire, the 52 pupils had been sent home to recover from the trauma that they may have suffered from their escape from the inferno.
“We only sent the children home yesterday because we wanted them to be with their parents over the next few days so that they maybe can heal from the trauma. They will be writing exams as from next week so they should be coming back in the next few days. We hired a bus to ferry them home and that same bus is going to bring them back,” he said.
Mr Sibanda said that parents had promised to supply material needed for the return of the pupils to school.
“There’s enough room for them. We have common rooms and other places that were short of students so we will put them there. The challenge that we had was in terms of mattresses because we had enough beds. So we have been promised by parents that they will get us 52 mattresses by Monday so everything should be in place by then,” he said.
Mr Sibanda added that it was unlikely that the dormitory would be fixed anytime soon. “With the destruction that has been suffered by the dormitory, I don’t think learners will be going back there shortly because a lot of assessment still needs to be done. What I noticed was that there are a lot of cracks and so it will take some time to fix,” he said.
A parent who spoke on condition of anonymity said given the scale of destruction, they were happy that the fire had not spread to any nearby buildings.
“I think the spacing between the buildings came in handy because we shudder to think what might have happened if the fire had spread to other dormitories. It is very scary to think of what these children went through when the fire was gutting this place.”
Online Reporter