Pregnant woman was burnt to death

A CHITUNGWIZA pregnant woman was burnt to death while trying to save essentials, popularly known as preparation, for her unborn child.

Primrose Panganai, 23, of Unit P in Chitungwiza was burnt to death on Monday night following a fire that spread after a suspected gas leak. With the current load shedding by ZESA, households have turned to LP gas for cooking.

Narrating the ordeal, the father of the dead woman, Norman Panganai said the gas leak had not been noticed and when Primrose lit a match there was a sudden ball of fire engulfing the whole house.

"I came back from work around 7pm and my wife asked Primrose to warm my food in the kitchen, which was also used as a bedroom. "She did not realise that the gas was leaking and when she lit the match the fire started.

"It spread to the washing basket before it burnt the blankets and the bed. "The fire spread to the whole house but we managed to rescue our young children, who sustained minor burns. "Primrose was the first one to get outside but to my surprise she went back trying to take out her bag of preparation," he said.

He added: "She was pregnant and she was trying to rescue her baby's clothes, but when I saw her I instructed her to get outside and leave everything.

"Since we were all busy I thought she went out but the didn't take heed of my instruction.

"She was then engulfed by the fire which destroyed the whole house as you can see."

Panganai said everyone in the house was injured by the fire. "Everyone sustained burns due to this fire and I have burns on my hands as I was burnt trying to take out my children and also rescue my wife.

"One of the children was burnt on the leg. Honestly it was a horror of my life."

ZESA spokesperson, Fullard Gwasira said the incident was unfortunate:

"It is indeed a sad development and we offer our condolences on behalf of ZESA but however, we cannot do any-thing about it because electricity supply outage is beyond our control. "The reason why the country does not have sufficient electricity is because there's not enough power to supply the whole country.

"If people decide to use other means of power supply they should take safety precautions to avoid dangerous incidents like the one that has happened in Chitungwiza which we regret.

"Load shedding will not end anytime soon because the country does not have enough power supply so people should try to be safe when it comes to power sources be it fire, gas or generators," he said.

Some witnesses from the neighbour-hood said that the family could have been keeping petrol in the house which then became a catalyst to the spread of the fire.

"I think Panganai was keeping petrol in the house, that's the reason behind this disaster.

"It's sad that Primrose lost her life while pregnant," said one neighbour who refused to be named. However, some neighbours said the family did not get enough support.

"We tried to stop the fire using water with the little resources we had.

"We also seek support from the responsible authorities to be readily available in times like these.

"The numbers of fire brigade should be available so that they are reachable in time of need."

When H-Metro crew arrived the injured were yet to be medically examined.

"No one bothered to take them to the hospital yet they sustained injuries which require medical experts.

"They have burns and they are over-looking their health at the expense of the deceased."