Thupeyo Muleya : Beitbridge Bureau

A thirty-year old woman believed to be an illegal fuel dealer was on Sunday night burnt to death when her house caught fire while preparing supper in the room where she stored petrol. The incident occurred between 7pm and 8pm and it took fire-fighters close to three hours to put out the fire. Matabeleland South police spokesperson Inspector Philisani Ndebele confirmed the incident last night.He identified the woman as Sithabile Mbedzi, adding that her body had been taken to Beitbridge District Hospital mortuary.

“Indications are that she was cooking in the same room with 20 litres of petrol. During the process the house caught fire and she was trapped inside and burnt to death.

“We are yet to establish the real cause of fire. When the house caught fire some neighbours tried to put out the fire with water and called in the local fire-fighters, but it was unfortunate she was trapped and burnt to death,”He said.

Inspector Ndebele said people should desist from illegal selling of fuel from their houses or keeping it inside their houses.

“Members of the public should desist from such practices which are harmful to themselves and the society,” He said.

Beitbridge town secretary Mr Loud Ramakgapola described the incident as sad and unfortunate.

“We regret the death of the young lady, but we are worried about the cause, which is fuel being kept in houses.

“We want to urge the members of the community and vehicle owners to make use of service stations. It is sad to continue to lose lives and property in this town due to fuel being stored in houses.

“This cannot be allowed to continue considering that we don’t have fuel shortages in the country,” he said.

Mr Ramakgapola added that the local authority was working with other stakeholders including the police, the Environmental Management Authority and Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority, with the view of putting an end to the illegal sales of fuel from illegal points including houses.

The incident comes a few months after two people in the border town were burnt to death in a similar way at a house in Limpopo View suburb.

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