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Columbus Mabika and Nesia Mhaka
Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) director of legal and advisory services, Group Captain Albert Murove, on Saturday lost property worth thousands of dollars when his house in Ruwa was gutted by fire believed to have been caused by lightning.

Ruwa Local Board engineers are still investigating the case to establish the extent of the damage and ascertain the value of the property lost.

Group Captain Murove reported the incident to the police and the Fire Brigade.

Reports say the Fire Brigade got to the scene late when the thatched roof of the house had collapsed, with some of the property already burnt to ashes.

Group Captain Murove yesterday said: “I confirm the fire incident that destroyed my house. It was caused by lightning which struck the peak of the thatched house on Saturday morning.”

“The fire started at around 2am and we thought since it was raining heavily, the fire would die out, but that was not to be the case as the fire intensified.”

Group Captain Murove said assessments were ongoing to ascertain the extent of the loss.

His wife, Mrs Shyline Murove, said it was fortunate that there was no loss of  life.

“We have God to thank. We could have all been burnt to death in our sleep. The fire was so huge that it destroyed everything.

“There was no foul play. Lightning was the cause,” she said.

Last week, fire gutted the Indian Embassy building in Harare destroying property worth thousands of dollars while one employee was injured during the inferno which was extinguished by the Harare Fire Brigade.

A week earlier, traders at a new shopping mall at the corner of Robert Mugabe Road and Chinhoyi Street in Harare lost goods worth thousands of dollars to a fire caused by an electrical fault.