Hospital staff quarters destroyed in inferno

A 12 bed roomed staff quarters at St Paul’s Mission rural hospital some 60 kilometers north of Lupane town, was reduced to ashes with property worth over a $100 000 destroyed after a fire razed the building.

There are suspicions that the fire could have been caused by an unattended candle light.

It’s a case of one step forward and three steps backwards.

When stakeholders constructed this staff cottage back then, there was hope that they had dealt with the accommodation problems at this clinic.

Fast-forward to this week, the place is now in ruins after an inferno submerged the building yesterday evening.

Narrating events on the day of the inferno, Sister-in-Charge at the institution Siphephisiwe Nyoni said they are now facing an accommodation crisis.

“When we were about to sleep at around 8.30 in the evening, we just heard a big sound of asbestos burning and we tried to put out the fire but in vein. We also called the fire brigade team from Bulawayo and they only arrived after two when the building was already down. We now have to make sure that the staff shares their rooms,” she said.

zbc