daniel chigunwe
Primrose Zimano Herald correspondent
Over 70 retailers operating at Kings Way shopping mall, located at the corner of Julius Nyerere Way and Speke Avenue in Harare CBD, are still reeling from a devastating fire that destroyed the building and their wares yesterday.
The cause of the fire has not been established, but eye witnesses said indications were an electrical fault from the upstairs.
Clothing shops, a salon, pharmacies, an electricals shop, and a furniture shop are among some of the affected.
No casualties or injuries were reported in the incident, an official said.
The building is owned by Gilchrist and Cooksey company.
In an interview, the company’s director Mr Gabriel Chiuriri, said everything in the building was burnt to debris from the upstairs to downstairs.
“When the fire started I was not there but those who were present said they managed to break the window to try and retrieve some stuff but they failed. Fire brigade came and only managed to stop the fire from spreading to other buildings and all retailers did not even manage to remove anything,” he said.
He said the building is insured but failed to address the issue of compensation for the 70 tenents.
A street kid, identified as Aaron, said the fire started from a shop at the ground floor and all shops were closed.
“I just saw small flames on that corner of upstairs suddenly, the flames got bigger and the security called fire brigade but most of the goods were destroyed, only the owner of one shop managed break the window to remove clothing items, gas tanks and phones,” he said.
One retailer who operated a shop in the mall, Mrs Florence, said she lost goods worth over US$10 000 in the fire.
“I am hurt, this table was my only source of income and I do not know where to start from. l have orphans to look for. I lost braids, tracksuits and shoes worth US$10 500. I failed to retrieve anything and I wish we could be compensated,” she said.
Mrs Diana, who was still in shock said she came to the scene during the fire incident.
“I received a phone call while I was at home when I arrived at the scene, the flame was all over the building and l did not manage to retrieve anything. The stuff l had was worth about US$5 000.”
Another retailer identified as Mr Soko said he is out words.
“My kitchen chairs, coffee tables and photocopying machines were all burnt to ashes. I came, but I could not retrieve anything and we are waiting for the owner of this building to tell us the way forward.”
Harare City Council Public Relations Officer, Mr Stanley Gama said the cause of the fire is being investigated.
“Investigations are in progress but it is suspected that it was caused by an electrical fault in an upstair saloon,” he said.
Mr Gama said they are going to solve the problem by removing all illegal businesses.
“We are going to close all illegally partitioned shops which were not inspected by the fire brigade,” he said.
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