Fire destroyed 23 houses at Kafukuta village, Traditional Authority Nankumba in Mangochi on Sunday, leaving many families homeless and property worth K16.8 million lost.
Mangochi Police spokesperson Rodrick Maida said that on the fateful day, a seven-year-old girl was playing a cooking game known as masanje using fire outside her house.
She then stopped the game leaving the fire unattended to.
“Suddenly Mwera winds blew the said unattended fire to a nearby video show room made of wood and grass materials and the structure was burnt to ashes,” he said.
As if that was not enough, the fire spread to 23 houses which were built using wood and grass.
According to Maida, properties such as assorted beddings, clothes, kitchen utensils and farm produce all valued at K16, 890, 000 were lost in the fire.
However, no person suffered injuries due to the inferno.
Meanwhile, police in the district are advising the general public not to leave minors alone especially when they are playing with fire to avoid reoccurrence of such avoidable incidents.
