Freak fire destroys property at Joina City

A FREAK fire accident destroyed some property in the basement of Joina City, one of Harare's busiest and tallest shopping malls, yesterday morning.

In a statement, proprietors of the building described the damage which was confined to the plant room that houses Spar's refrigeration equipment, as minimal.

The cause of the fire had not yet been established at the time of going to Press yesterday.

"Our 24-hour security team which patrols the area noticed smoke coming out of the room and quickly alerted the security control centre. Our resident fire officers reacted swiftly by extinguishing the fire.

"We would like to thank the City of Harare who declared the building safe. We would like to assure our tenants and customers that our building has an efficient fire protection system and your safety remains a priority for us at all times," Joina City said in the statement.

The complex has 72 retail shops and a 16-floor office tower.

It has three levels of parking bays, with each one of them taking 200 vehicles which translates to 600 underground parking bays. Harare businessman Shingi Mutasa is one of the co-owners of the $100 million building.