Firefighters battle to put out a fire that broke out at Maisha Club in Dar es Salaam yesterday. The afternoon blaze caused extensive damage to the facility.
By Florence Mugarula
An afternoon fire yesterday destroyed a popular nightclub in Dar es Salaam.
There were no casualties in the fire that reduced Maisha Club to a smouldering shell. The fire was blamed on a faulty air conditioner.
Firefighters from the Dar es Salaam City Council and private companies battled unsuccessfully to contain the fire. They were hindered by lack of access to the area where the blaze started.
Sources said workers at the club attempted to put out the fire to prevent it from spreading from the air conditioner, but were forced to flee and save their own skins spread in the building within a few minutes.
A big crowd gathered outside the club watched helplessly and the roaring blaze consumed everything in its path. The damage was estimated at tens of millions of shillings.
Items that were reduced to ashes included expensive music systems, sofa sets and refrigerators.
"I have only managed to save at least Sh700,000 from the club, a DVD player and a TV set. All the rest has been destroyed," said the manager, Mr Tongai Muza. He confirmed the fire started in an air conditioner.
After making a futile attempt to put out the fire, they called Dar es Salaam Police Special Zone Commander Suleiman Kova, who helped them contact firefighters.
The Citizen saw firefighters arriving at the scene at 3.15pm, about two hours after the blaze had broken out.
A woman, who was not immediately identified, started weeping uncontrollably, after arriving and seeing the building reduced to a charred ruin.
A representative of the owners of the building, Mr Dibresh Dibesha, said the accident had caused a "very big loss" to his family as well as to the tenant.
According to Mr Dibesh, the building was the property of his father, who was in Britain, and added that the damage caused was yet to be established.
Kinondoni Regional Police Commander Mark Kalunguyeye, who was at the scene, declined to comment, saying the situation was still tense.
"As you can see there is nothing to say…it is still very earlier to say anything. I am still waiting to talk to the operator of this business, but as you can see for yourself, she is in no condition to talk," he said.
Meanwhile, the Oysterbay local government chairman, Mr Peter Mushi, said the accident had caused several damaged, including loss of employment and local government revenues.
"We have lost our reliable source of income in our area. Our children have also lost employment and we can only hope that the owners repair it as soon as possible to resume business," said Mr Mushi.
No one was injured as all workers and customers who were present managed to escape.
Meanwhile, the first generator at the Independent Power Tanzania Limited (IPTL) plant was yesterday switched on and the generated power immediately loaded to the national grid.
The generator was switched on at exactly mid-day following several trials that were carried out by local engineers and technicians guided by two foreigners on Saturday evening without success.
Speaking at the plant in Tegeta, Dar es Salaam, IPTL General Manger Magesvaran Subramaniam said the turn of events was promising.
He said because the generators had stayed for over two years without working, the first engine turned on could not generate its capacity of 10 MW immediately.
"We are expecting it to have stabilised its production in a few hours time," he said.
