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Nqobile Tshili Chronicle Reporter
A FAMILY from Bulawayo’s Mpopoma suburb lost property worth hundreds of dollars when the house it was renting caught fire on Sunday evening.The house caught fire at about 7pm when children left a candle burning and went to play outside.
“There was no elderly person in the house as my mother who is a vendor was out on her daily business and I was also away,” said a family member, Mr Wellington Nkunzi.
“The fire left us with nothing. We do not know where to start. Even the children’s uniforms were burnt. The fire started in the sitting room but it was stopped before it could spread to the kitchen.”
The damaged property included a four-plate stove, fridge, washing machine, television set, clothes, blankets and home theatre speakers.
The walls were also badly damaged while window panes of the sitting room were all broken. Neighbours reacted quickly to extinguish the fire.
“We became suspicious when we saw smoke coming from the roof and when we moved closer we saw that the house was on fire. We then started pouring water and eventually we put it out,” said Mrs Margaret Mangwiro, a neighbour.
The family was using candle light because electricity was disconnected over failure to pay bills.
“We have a huge debt we owe Zesa and electricity was disconnected and it has been over three months,” said Mr Nkunzi.
The incident comes barely a month after scores of Zimbabweans have called on the Government to extend its directive on the writing off of bills to the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) bills.
Online Reporter