Bar gutted by fire

Only part of the wall remained standing as all the thatched roof was reduced to ashes.

Kwekwe Mayor Councillor Shadreck Tobaiwa confirmed the incident which occurred last Friday night at around 10 pm.

He said the tavern caught fire when an uncontrolled veld fire in a nearby bush spread to the bar.

“We suspect that the source of the fire was a veld fire from a nearby bush which due to the wind, spread to the tavern.

“I arrived at the place a few minutes after the fire started and the fire was spreading fast and in the process destroying property and we were able to salvage only bits and pieces,” said Clr Tobaiwa.

He said most of the property was destroyed and the council was only able to salvage bits and pieces of the property when the fire brigade finally put out the fire.

“The incident is huge a blow to the council as the bar was a major source of income,” he said.

Clr Tobaiwa said while the responsible department was yet to ascertain the actual value of the property that was destroyed in the fire, it is estimated to run into several hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“We have not yet ascertained the value of the property that was destroyed,” he said.