Fire guts Mulanje View Motel
Mulanje View Motel was on Wednesday destroyed by fire which started around 10am and lasted until 3pm when it was put out by well-wishers.
Mulanje View Motel manager Joseph Mphepo said in an interview that the fire is suspected to have started from an electrical fault in one of the rooms.
“It was around 10 o’clock in the morning when one of the cleaners came running to my office to report that the ceiling in one of the rooms was on fire.
“When we rushed to the site, we found the whole corridor in smoke. Up to now we are failing to establish the cause of the fire, but we suspect an electrical fault,” he said.
Mphepo said a lot of property has been damaged as the fire spread across the whole wing affecting 18 rooms.
“We tried to call the fire department but have not shown up to now [3:30 pm] otherwise some of the property could have been saved,” he said.
On his part, council chairperson Isaac Brazio said they did not have plans to buy a fire fighting engine because fire incidents were rare in the district.
“But now we realise the importance of having one,” he said.
Last year, part of Providence Girls Secondary School could not be saved after catching fire because the fire-fighting engine came from Blantyre which is 60 kilometres away.
Mulanje Police Station spokesperson Gresham Ngwira said they were yet to investigate the cause of the fire. The place is now closed and will resume operations on Monday.
