Tendai Gukutikwa
Mutare Bureau
SIX schoolgirls from the same family died in the early hours of Sunday after a suspected gas explosion destroyed their home in Bamhamire Village, Chipinge.
The girls were sleeping in a seven-roomed house at the St Luke’s Apostolic Ejuwel Jekenisheni Church Shrine when the fire broke out at around 2am, while the rest of the family had travelled to Chiredzi for a church service.
Family representative Mr Osbrain Pferedzai confirmed the tragedy in an interview yesterday morning, saying a gas cylinder is suspected to have exploded, sparking the inferno that gutted the house and reduced everything inside to ashes.
“We are in mourning as a family and we were not in any way expecting this. The girls were sleeping in the house when all this happened. The remains have been taken to the mortuary, while the girls’ mothers have been taken to hospital for DNA tests to help identify the bodies,” he said.
Two of the deceased were daughters of church leader Archbishop Phillip Pferedzai, two were his granddaughters, and the other two were his wife’s sisters.
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