REED PARTLY TORCHED, FIRE PERSONNEL, ARMY, COPS DEPLOYED

LUYENGO - Some fire personnel and members of security forces had to spend Monday night at the sidzidzi semhlanga at Bhamusakhe, Luyengo, after it was partly torched.

According to an impeccable source, on Monday at around 10:30pm the sidzidzi semhlanga (reed) was purportedly set alight by unknown people and part of it, together with the vegetation, mainly grass around it, was affected. Thereafter, soldiers were deployed to safeguard the area.The source said the people who  saw the fire raised the alarm and the police, together with the Eswatini National Fire and Emergency Services (ENFES) personnel, were called and they responded promptly to the call.

Flames

He said the calls were made at around 11pm and about 30 minutes later, firefighters from Lobamba Fire Station arrived at the scene and found that there were police officers and members of the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) who were already trying to put out the flames. “Upon seeing that the fire could cause more damage, they (firefighters) called their colleagues from Mbabane Fire Station for assistance and they arrived about 30 minutes later,” the source said. He said when the firefighters from Mbabane arrived, they found that their colleagues had done most of the work and they assisted them to complete the task. He alleged that the process of putting out their fire lasted until the early hours of yesterday.
“Even though the affected area could not be measured, the sidzidzi semhlanga was affected, together with the vegetation around it,” the source said.

Thereafter, he said even though the firefighters successfully put out the fire with the assistance of the police officers and soldiers who attended to the incident, some of them stayed at the scene, together with members of the security forces, until dawn. He said this was done for security reasons as they believed that the threat was not over.  This publication visited the scene yesterday, but upon entering the gate, it was noted that an army tent had been pitched with two soldiers inside. The military men asked to call and inform their superiors about the visit of this publication. A few moments later, one of the soldiers said the order that he had been given by his superiors was that they should not allow anyone, including the media, to the sidzidzi semhlanga. Therefore, he said; “Leningasisita ngako kutsi nijike (just go back). Start your car and go.”

Meanwhile, the ENFES Public Relations Officer, Mandla Dlamini, confirmed that they attended to a call about a fire incident at Luyengo on Monday night. He also confirmed that the incident was attended by personnel from two fire stations, due to the magnitude of the fire. Meanwhile, Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said there was no report about the matter in her office. Again, Acting Lobamba Indvuna, Saddam Magongo, said they had not received a report about the incident. However, he said maybe those responsible were yet to report it.

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