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George Maponga in Masvingo

Eighteen passengers early today cheated death after a Harare-bound BM Transport bus they were travelling on caught fire on the outskirts of Masvingo city along the Harare-Masvingo highway.

All the passengers and the crew managed to escape from the bus unharmed, but various goods were destroyed in the fire suspected to have been caused by unknown flammable substances.

When the Masvingo fire brigade and police arrived at the scene, the bus had already been reduced to a shell, but the crew and the passengers had salvaged some of the goods from the boot of the bus and also removed the trailer.

It is believed the Fire Brigade arrived at the scene without water although this could not be verified.

Masvingo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa said investigations are still under way to establish the cause of the fire.

“The cause of the fire is still unknown but we suspect there were some flammable substances in the bus that might have triggered the fire. Investigations are ongoing and we are still to establish the value of goods burnt in the fire.”

“The incident happened around 2.30am when the bus that was carrying 18 passengers and driven by Mr Samkwazi Mabhawa from South Africa to Harare caught fire. The bus was reduced to a shell by the fire but no one was injured. All the passengers and crew escaped unhurt,” said Inspector Dhewa.

“The cause of the fire is still unknown but we suspect there were some flammable substances in the bus that might have triggered the fire. Investigations are ongoing and we are still to establish the value of goods burnt in the fire.”

Inspector Dhewa says as the driver was heading towards Harare, some passengers noticed plumes of smoke that was coming from the back seat where some goods were stashed.

They alerted the driver who stopped the bus but by that time it had already caught fire.