Elderly man (81) burnt to death in his sleep

An 81-year-old man from Tshitshi Village in Mangwe District was burnt to death when a hut he was sleeping in caught fire, police said.

Matabeleland South provincial police spokesperson, Sergeant Loveness Mangena said the incident occurred on Saturday at about 2am at Mr Mlimisi Mpofu's homestead.

"The victim, Mr John Mpofu, was on the previous night left by his brother, Mr Mlimisi Mpofu lying on a mattress in his bedroom hut and there was a burning candle by his side, which has been placed on a wooden stool.

"As police, we suspect that Mpofu might have forgotten to put out the candlelight and fell asleep and that could have resulted in the hut catching fire. However, we are still investigating," said Sgt Mangena.
Mpofu was staying with his brother in the homestead.

Mr Mlimisi Mpofu was awakened by the sound of the raging fire and on investigating, he discovered that his brother's bedroom hut was on fire.

"He, however, managed to put out the fire and retrieved the charred body of his brother from the hut," said Sgt Mangena.

A report was made to the police who came and took the body to Plumtree District Hospital mortuary pending a postmortem. Sgt Mangena said they were still investigating the incident to establish the exact cause of the fire.