Fire has gutted at least eight market stalls at Chegutu Bus Terminus, destroying wares including electrical and mining equipment worth nearly US$50 000.
The cause of the fire, which broke out at around midnight
on Tuesday, has not yet been established.
Devastated stall holders who had mining tools, electrical
and general equipment destroyed said they needed resources to restock.
“We do not know how we are going to recover from this
devastating blow. I lost an inventory worth about US$6500,” said a stall holder
who had his mining tools destroyed.
The fire consumed everything including the roofing
material.
Chairperson of the market Mr Jealous Phiri said nothing could be salvaged after the fire broke out.
“It is not yet clear as to what could have triggered the
fire but the effort of Chegutu Fire Brigade could not stop the fire. Everything
was destroyed as a result,” he said.
Chegutu West legislator Cde Shakemore Timburwa toured the
market to assess the extent of damage.
“What we see here is painful and we are here to see how
best the affected families can be helped to recover,” said Cde Timburwa.
Going forward, he said, there was need to work with
insurance companies to come up with tailored packages for vendors.
“The people affected here are managing to look after their
families from selling their wares. We need to come up with interventions that
ensure they are not be destroyed forever in the event of such mishaps,” he
said.
The legislator took measurements of the destroyed stalls to
come up with a bill of quantities for the restoration of the market. Herald
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