Losses of 30 million meticais from Beira fire

Maputo, 19 Jun (AIM) – Mozambique’s publicly owned electricity company, EDM, has estimated the losses caused by Saturday’s devastating fire in the central city of Beira at about 30 million meticais (around 470,000 US dollars, at the current exchange rate).

The fire occurred in the sub-station in the neighbourhood of Munhava. Power was cut to the greater part of the city, depriving 160,000 EDM clients of electricity. The blaze destroyed seven panels which supply power to 27 of Beira’s neighbourhoods.

Speaking at a Sunday press conference in Beira, EDM’s National Director of Transmission, Alberto Banze, guaranteed that the first consignment of equipment to re-establish the power supply would arrive in Beira later that day.

Cited by Radio Mozambique, Banze said the fire was caused by a short circuit, and EDM is investigating the origin of that short circuit.

“The colleagues who were there tried to put out the fire with the available extinguishers, but the heat was so intense that they were unable to do so”, Banze added.

They immediately called for assistance from the Fire Brigade, which responded quickly and was able to douse the flames.

Banze said that teams have been mobilized from across the EDM central region to repair the damage. Equipment from Zambezia province has been sent to join the material already in Beira, and Banze hoped that power would be restored to parts of the city by Monday.
(AIM)
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