Police say flammable objects in luggage likely cau...

Police say flammable objects in luggage likely cause in Masvingo bus fire, all 18 passengers safe

Scenes from the scene as a BM Transport bus went up in flames along the Harare-Masvingo highway in the early hours this morning

Zim Now Writer

Police suspect that unidentified flammable objects may have caused the fire that ravaged the Harare-bound BM Transport bus on the outskirts of Masvingo city early this morning. There were no injuries among the bus crew and all 18 passengers.

“The cause of the fire is still unknown but we suspect there were some flammable substances in the bus that might have triggered the fire. Investigations are ongoing and we are still to establish the value of goods burnt in the fire,” said Masvingo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa

He said that a fire alert was raised around 2:30 am by some passengers who had noticed smoke coming out of the back section which had been reserved for luggage.

The bus coming from South Africa had passed Masvingo on its way to Harare.

The fire appeared to have spread at slow speed as everyone managed to disembark. The crew and passengers also managed to remove some goods and disengage to trailer.

Masvingo Fire Brigade attended the scene together with the police but by then the fire had already consumed the bus with only the metal components left.

In December 2021 truck driver Sirizani Butau became a national hero after pulling out passengers from a burning bus after a Beta Bus crashed head on with a fuel haulage truck.

Flammable items in the luggage were suspected to have caused the fire on a Brooklyn bus in which over 40 people died in Gwanda in 2018.