By Ireen Mseteka

Likoma, May 19, Mana; Fire ignited by petrol, razed down a house belonging to Necksan Matekenya at Kabuthu Village in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Mkumpha in Likoma District on Friday, injuring five members of his family.

Public Relations Officer for Likoma Police, Enala Kalua confirmed the incident in an interview on Saturday.

She said household properties worth millions of Kwacha were also destroyed in the inferno which started at around 18:00 hours.  

“According to Matekenya’s account, his boys were siphoning petrol from a large container into small bottles ready to go to the lake for fishing and one bottle fell down igniting fire from a charcoal stove.

“Responding to the report, police along with members of the community rushed to the scene and found all property in the house worth millions of Kwachas were already burnt to ashes” said Kalua.

She said the five family members were rushed to St Mary’s Mission Hospital where one of them was referred to St Peters Hospital in the same district for further treatment.

Meanwhile, police in the district are appealing to members of the community to refrain from keeping flammable substances in houses to avoid similar incidents.