A South African-bound Good Riders Tours bus caught fire and was burnt to a shell while parked at the Kwekwe Intercity Bus Terminus.
The Chronicle reported that the Kwekwe City fire department did not despatch fire tenders to douse the flames, and the Redcliff Municipality fire tender only arrived after about 45 minutes.
Fortunately, there were no passengers on board when the bus went up in smoke on Friday morning.
An informal trader who plies his trade at the rank identified as Victor Dube said:
We saw smoke coming out of the parked bus before it caught fire which started from the back seat and started spreading across the whole bus. There was nothing we could do as the fire was moving fast.
Kwekwe Mayor Councillor Albert Zinhanga said they were still trying to ascertain what transpired. He said:
We would like to acknowledge all the complaints and frustration from residents regarding the bus incident that happened earlier today.
It is indeed regrettable. We want to assure you residents that we are going to get to the bottom of this issue.
We feel your pain, anger, and frustration. We are busy compiling reports from different stakeholders regarding this incident. As soon as we finish we will inform you.
We must protect properties in the city. We will not hide behind a finger. I however appeal to you to allow the investigations to take place so that we find the problem and solve it.
Zinhanga said the local authority has two functional fire tenders, an old one, and a new one bought by the Government from Belarus.
Recently, Calvary Sports Bar in Amaveni was razed by a fire and again, the Kwekwe City fire brigade was nowhere to be seen.
In 2022, a fire gutted doctors’ residences at Kwekwe General Hospital and the fire tender arrived without water and the firefighters could not locate hydrants.
More: Pindula News