News / National
Detectives comb Gweru fire home
24 Dec 2015 at 08:22hrs | Views
A TEAM of forensic detectives is in Gweru from Harare to investigate the cause of a fire that burned to death a former Gweru businessman, his wife and child, following suspicions of foul play.
Andreas Pile, 56, his wife Annalisa, 37, and their one-year- old baby died on Friday last week. Initially, it was suspected the fire was started by a cigarette stub.
Investigators yesterday said the family was owed a lot of money by some unnamed business people in the Midlands capital. "A lot has been happening in Pile's life. He claimed he was owed a lot of money by his family as well as some businesspeople. He had also taken his family members to High Court over inheritance matters. So anything could have happened," said a source on condition of anonymity.
Gweru City Council chief fire officer, Emmanuel Musemwa said the department was not ruling out arson in the matter.
"That's why we had the police detectives coming to investigate. They have already come and collected their data to determine the actual cause of the fire. We submitted our findings and we hope they will assist in solving this matter," he said.
Musemwa said they received a "running call" at 4:05AM from a resident called Mazambani adding that it only took them two minutes to get to the scene, contrary to claims that they took two hours to respond to the fire.
"A running call is when someone comes to the station to notify us of an emergency. So at 4:06 AM, our two fire engines carrying 3,000 litres of water went to attend the scene. At 4:08AM, we were at the scene with an ambulance and a command vehicle," he said.
He said if the neighbours had called the fire brigade before trying to rescue the Piles, they would have arrived at the apartment earlier. Only Pile's son Benjamin survived the inferno.
The businessman used to own Twin Peaks Lodge and other properties in the Midlands capital.
Andreas Pile, 56, his wife Annalisa, 37, and their one-year- old baby died on Friday last week. Initially, it was suspected the fire was started by a cigarette stub.
Investigators yesterday said the family was owed a lot of money by some unnamed business people in the Midlands capital. "A lot has been happening in Pile's life. He claimed he was owed a lot of money by his family as well as some businesspeople. He had also taken his family members to High Court over inheritance matters. So anything could have happened," said a source on condition of anonymity.
Gweru City Council chief fire officer, Emmanuel Musemwa said the department was not ruling out arson in the matter.
Musemwa said they received a "running call" at 4:05AM from a resident called Mazambani adding that it only took them two minutes to get to the scene, contrary to claims that they took two hours to respond to the fire.
"A running call is when someone comes to the station to notify us of an emergency. So at 4:06 AM, our two fire engines carrying 3,000 litres of water went to attend the scene. At 4:08AM, we were at the scene with an ambulance and a command vehicle," he said.
He said if the neighbours had called the fire brigade before trying to rescue the Piles, they would have arrived at the apartment earlier. Only Pile's son Benjamin survived the inferno.
The businessman used to own Twin Peaks Lodge and other properties in the Midlands capital.
Source - Chronicle
