A PREGNANT woman and her four-year-old child died after fire ravaged a compound at Stapleford Farm in Mt Hampden, destroying more than 55 houses and property worth thousands of dollars.
BY MOSES MATENGA
Disaster struck the heavily-populated compound after Elijah Marimba’s house caught fire before spreading to other houses.
When NewsDay visited the compound late yesterday afternoon, hundreds of people were running around in a desperate bid to save their belongings, while the bodies of Shupikai Phiri and her child were covered in cloths.
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“I was called by people saying there was a fire. The door was locked. Those who witnessed it said the fire started in my house. The house was locked,” an emotional Marimba said.
Ward 24 secretary James Matika, who is related to the deceased, said they noticed the fire while they sat with Phiri.
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“We were together when the fire started so she wanted to remove things from the house. We only realised she had gone inside after the fire had stopped. We found her dead together with her child who had followed the mother,” he said.
Local councillor, Baison Mavhuto, who confirmed the deaths, appealed to well-wishers to assist families that lost their belongings in the inferno.
“Nothing came out from all the affected houses. It is disaster and very sadly, we lost a pregnant woman and a child,” he said.
“Others lost important documents like identity documents.”
Most of the occupants of the makeshift houses used to be farm workers before the land reform programme and now survive on menial jobs at nearby companies.
Police could not immediately comment on the incident, as officers were still on the ground.
Several people who spoke to NewsDay said the extent of the damage could have been minimised had the fire brigade reacted in time.
