A wave of fires and warehouse destruction worries the Mozambican city of Beira

Three fires have reduced three different construction materials warehouses to rubble in the central Mozambique town of Beira in just over a week, raising concerns among authorities.

“This is alarming, but this is a new phenomenon happening in our city,” said Lorito Joaquim, commander of the National Public Security Service in Beira, after fighting the latest fire in the city on Thursday.

“During the work, we established that the cause of the fire was a short circuit,” he said.

He added that in just a week, three fires were recorded in different warehouses in the city, all of them involving construction materials, the owners of which suffered heavy losses.

“It is important to follow all safety measures to help extinguish fires,” he urged.

In less than 24 hours, two major fires burned to the ground an equal number of businesses selling building materials in the city, the provincial capital of Sofala.

Ferragens Maquinino’s warehouses in Haimite and Hoshin in the Chingusura region were reduced to ashes within hours and the fire caused extensive property damage.

Ferragem Maquinino owner Magomed Adil has already estimated the damage at about 250 million meticais (3.6 million euros) and complained about the actions of firefighters, who said they arrived an hour after the alarm.

“What we saw was limited water and hose, and limited experience fighting fires. I have already lost everything I had (…) I am broke and in debt. I have 50 workers who may lose their jobs. .At night, during the day I was disgraced,” he said.

A week ago, another building materials store, called Armazém Chiveve, in the Maquinino district, was also reduced to rubble by a massive fire that broke out at midday in the center of Beira, again raising suspicions of a short circuit. scheme.

JIJE // EDJ

Lusa/The End