Online Reporter
Sikhulekelani Moyo, [email protected]
LALANI Hotel and Conference Centre located in Bulawayo’s Fortunes Gate area was razed down by a fire early Saturday morning following a suspected electric fault that affected the premises.
The inferno started around midnight in a thatched double-storey block on the first floor after electricity flickered on and off.
Bulawayo chief fire officer Mr Mhlangano Moyo confirmed the incident, saying preliminary indications point to an electrical fault as the possible cause of the blaze.
“An alarm went off and members of a security company went there and checked, but they did not find anything. However, at around 12.30am we received a call reporting a fire. We managed to save the other buildings, but the one with the thatched roof was razed down,” said Mr Moyo.
He said a detailed report would be released after investigations into the cause of the fire have been completed.
Mr Moyo said there were no injuries.
Owner of the hotel Mr Fredrick Moyo said he is hoping that the hotel will be rebuilt in under a year, but his greatest relief is that no staff, guests or neighbours were injured in the fire that gutted three quarters of the facility.
In an interview, he said his first concern was human life that was preserved, adding that property can be rebuilt and some things can be bought again.
“Life is more important than all these material things. Of course, we need a bit of money to redo these things. With God’s grace, I think in less than one year we will have rebuilt this,” said.
He paid gratitude to his staff, guests and neighbours.
He added that the hotel was fully booked two days ago, with the players and staff for Caps United Football Club and fortunately, all rooms were empty at the time of the fire adding that the hotel’s 20 employees were unhurt.
Mr Moyo is confident the business will recover quickly. He said the conference room, restaurant, guest house and some rooms that survived the blaze would be the base for resuming operations.
“In the meantime, at least God has spared us this conference room, the restaurant, the guest house and some other rooms. We can still use those to redo that. So, I’m more than positive,” he said.
He believes the hotel’s history gives him a template to follow as he rebuilds.
“This place came out of this spared guest house. So, this house actually made all these structures. So, we can still use the same principles to rebuild it,” said Mr Moyo.
He praised Bulawayo chief fire officer Mr Moyo and his team for saving the guest house and back rooms, but noted water challenges hampered efforts.
“I appreciate the Bulawayo City Council Fire Fighters, unfortunately, they had challenges with water. Otherwise, if the water was available, I’m sure all this would not have been damaged. They would have contained everything, but the hydrants were dry,” he said.
“So, with all the same, we thank God for firefighters. A special thanks to Mr Mhlangano Moyo, the chief fire officer, and his team.”
