Four siblings perish in lightning strike
TRAGEDY struck the Hara family of Wadzenenga Village under Chief Nyashanu in Buhera after four siblings died when the house they were sleeping in with their mother was struck by lightning on Monday night.
The four children — aged between oneyear-nine-months and 11 — could not make it out of the inferno alive despite neighbours’ frantic efforts in a rescue operation that lasted about an hour.
Property worth hundreds of dollars was also destroyed in the fire and nothing was salvaged.
The mother, Ms Tendai Tototai (31), survived unscathed as she inexplicably found herself out of the house after being “thrown out”.
She only sustained a minor scratch on her left shin. The father, Mr Happyson Hara, was not at home when the incident happened.
National police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident. “Four children were burnt to death in Wadzenenga Village under Chief Nyashanu in Buhera when their house caught fire after a lightning incident. The mother, Ms Tendai Tototai, was breastfeeding her child when the lightning struck.
“The victims are Mavis Hara (11), Melinda Hara (nine), Michael Hara (five) and Milford Hara (one-year-nine-months),” said Assistant Commissioner Nyathi.
The children were buried on Tuesday side by side.
When The Manica Post visited the Hara homestead on Wednesday, a few mourners were still gathered to commiserate with the bereaved. A smell of burnt debris was still wafting in the air.
The local community was still battling to come to terms with the tragic event, with some describing it as mysterious.
One of the first people to arrive at the scene, Mr Conrad Muchena (54), said they endured a torrid time battling to put out the fire. He said they suspect that the inferno was caused by a lightning bolt as it left a hole on the top right side of the door.
“We are neighbours with the Hara family and l was alerted of the incident around 8pm by Ms Tototai when she came to my homestead screaming. I immediately raised alarm and was soon joined by other neighbours to embark on a rescue mission.
“When we got to the scene, a ball of fire had erupted inside and enveloped the bedroom. The inferno almost encroached to the adjacent kitchen hut. We could clearly hear the children yelling for help. We attempted to douse the flames by throwing sand and buckets of water to no avail,” said Mr Muchena.
He said when they realised that the children’s desperate cries for help were growing faint before they could extricate them, they decide to act out of impulse to save the situation.
“At that moment, we destroyed a part of the house’s back wall using a boulder to create
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an opening and reach out for the children. Sadly, the thatched roof caved in and it compounded the situation. By the time we managed to eventually extinguish the flames after about an hour, all the four children had died,” he said.
A police report was made that evening, while the local traditional leadership was also informed of the incident. Police attended the scene the following morning. Ms Tototai was choking with emotions as she recounted the ordeal.
Her narration was punctuated by sobs.
She said the incident was traumatising and had left her drained.
“I had already retired to bed with my four children when I was jolted out of my half sleep after an ember fell on me. That is when I realised that the house was on fire. I sensed danger, but could not immediately make out what was happening. Still in a state of panic and confusion, I called out to my eldest child, Mavis, that we needed to escape from the inferno,” said Ms Tototai in a barely audible voice.
She said she has no collection of what transpired thereafter as she found herself thrown out of the house.
Ms Tototai said she only recalls that she was cradling her one-year-nine-months old son Milford, but does not remember how she left him behind.
“I was breastfeeding my son and had him in my arms when I started yelling for help. I could not find the door to exit the bedroom into the other room and escape out of the house. l do not know how I left the baby behind, but I suddenly found myself outside before dashing to the nearest homestead to seek assistance to rescue my children,” she said.
Curiously, the door was secured from inside. The latch was still fastened when the door fell from the inferno’s heat.
The father, Mr Hara, said it was heart-wrenching to lose his family in such a way.
He said what is particularly painful is that his family had spent just one night in the house after he had finished thatching it the previous day.
“I am in deep pain after losing my children. The incident happened in my absence and maybe if I was around I could have done something to rescue my children.
“I left home on Sunday to go and work in another village after finishing thatching the two-roomed house, only to receive a call on Monday informing me that my children had perished in the fire.
“It is difficult for me to come to terms with this. It only started sinking in when I got home on Tuesday morning for the burials. All my four children are gone.
“I am devastated and do not know where to begin to pick up the pieces. I will try to be strong as a man for the sake of my wife. I feel for my wife as she had to witness that horrendous tragedy alone,” said Mr Hara.
A Hara family spokesperson, Mr Andrew Muvha (65), said they are still in shock over the deaths of the children.
“Death has dealt us a cruel blow. We have been robbed of the future generation of our family. The young souls had their lives ahead of them and we had high hopes for them, but they are gone now. This is difficult to take. All my life I have never witnessed such a thing. As a family we have to console the children’s parents over this sad loss and help them get over it with time,” said Mr Muvha.
Village head, Mr Titus Wadzenenga (68), said the tragedy was deeply disturbing.
He commended the community for supporting the family in their hour of need.
“As the Wadzenenga community, we are saddened by losing four young precious souls in that fire incident. It is not a loss for the
Hara family only, but the entire village. Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult period.
“This horrifying incident has disturbed us. We have never witnessed anything like that before in our area. However, the community shared the family’s grief and we came together to help them through the bereavement and burials. We will continue looking at ways of how best we can assist the parents,” said Village head Wadzenenga.