One injured in Delamere House fire

One casualty was on Friday reported in the fire on the 4th floor of Delamere House in Blantyre, where a non-State actor Pakachere Institute for Health and Development Communication occupies.

Both Blantyre Police Station spokesperson August Nkhwazi and a Delamere Properties manager Aaron Gunde said the cause of the fire was yet to be established.

“For now we only know that the casualty who has been rushed to Blantyre Adventist Hospital [BAH] has sustained some head injuries because some glasses fell on him, but we cannot say on the extent of the damage because investigations are still ongoing,” said Nkhwazi.

He identified the injured as Michael Wataya and said witnesses on site suspected an electrical fault could have caused the fire.

When Weekend Nation crew arrived at the scene at around 7.30am Blantyre City Council (BCC) firefighters were trying to douse the fire which had damaged the southern wing of the 4th Floor.

Gunde said they received the reports of the fire at around 5.57am and firefighters were immediately alerted.

“We are grateful for the timely response of both the police and fire brigade because the fire has only damaged the section where Pakachere Institute for Health is housed,” he said.

Blantyre Fire Brigade Station officer Bizwick Divala said they managed to put out the fire despite that the building’s system is not well equipped for that.

Since 2018 there have been at least five fire accidents in the city of Blantyre. In October 2018, fire burnt part of OG Issa Matches Factory while in November 2018, Nico House also caught fire. In October, fire gutted part of Blantyre Market and Leopard Matches, while in November, Nyika Hostel at the Polytechnic caught fire.