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By Blake Linder

Journalist


Fire breaks out at Tzaneen Tourism Centre

Tourism stakeholders and tourists have been urged to use the head office for all matters related to regional tourism until further notice.


Tzaneen’s tourism information centre in Limpopo was burnt to a crisp in the early hours of Tuesday morning as fire gutted the building, burning down Tzaneen’s very own Beads Bazaar in the process.

Just after midnight on October 17, an Ampath technician was returning home from his shift at work when he drove past the building and noticed flames. He in turn alerted the fire brigade, who managed to arrive on scene at around 00:20 to flames billowing from the rafters.

Despite their best efforts to ensure minimal damage was done, the roof collapsed closer to 01:00 as the flames engulfed the entire building.  The collapse led to the fire almost smothering itself, as a smouldering heap of rubble was attended to by firefighters.

Tzaneen police along with security companies, Northern Security, Breedt Security and Letaba Alarms were on scene along with three Mopani District Fire Department vehicles.

The fire also burnt Tzaneen’s beloved Beads Bazaar.

Mayuri’s daughter, Deepa Kesa, said: “My mom’s really devastated. I mean, how can she not be? There’s nothing left,” Deepa said.

Limpopo tourism centre

Limpopo tourism centre

READ MORE: Fire & Rescue service rally together to put out Table Mountain fire

Limpopo tourism centre

Limpopo tourism centre

She further went on to say that: “My mom is not giving up, she believes there’s a bigger reason to this and plans to come back bigger and better.”

“We appreciate every call and message. Thank you so much for all of the support,” Deepa said.

The fire department had to return later in the morning just after 08:00 to extinguish what remained of the blaze.

Interim CEO of the Limpopo Tourism Association, Gladwin Kotsedi, said in a media release on Tuesday: “We wish to urge all tourism stakeholders and tourists to make use of our head office for all regional tourism related matters until further notice.”

No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is still unknown, but investigations into the matter are under way.

READ MORE:

https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/fire-rescue-service-rally-together-to-put-out-city-fire/

– Caxton News Service

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