| The fires razed homes. |
Two cases of fire were reported on Tuesday in the South-East region where four private schools, one hundred and forty houses and eleven tombs were destroyed.
Serious fires ravaged Amparihy-East, in the Vangaindrano district, and Berondra-Maheriraty, in Farafangana district, both located in the South-East region, on Tuesday. No loss of human life was reported during these disasters. However, two people were injured in Berondra. The material toll of these two fires showed four private schools and one hundred and forty homes reduced to ashes.
These schools are located in Amparihy-Est. In this village, fifty-six roofs, representing twenty-five households, as well as an office of the head of the Administrative and Educational Zone, a “Sehatra Mahasoa” center built by the Development Intervention Fund and eleven graves all have been ravaged.
Distress call
According to information received by the head of the gendarmerie station, a man lit a bush fire north of the village. Unfortunately, this fire got out of control and caused significant damage. The arsonist has already been identified by the police, who were dispatched to the scene of the fire. The residents, who had become homeless, were rehoused in the town hall.
The other fire in Farafangana destroyed eighty-four houses. In this region, two hundred and nine victims launched a distress call for the authorities to come and help them urgently. They lost all their belongings, including money, food supplies, seeds, equipment and personal effects. Everything was destroyed by this blaze, which was apparently caused by a family cooking fire, whose recklessness was blamed.
The population was completely overwhelmed by the flames, despite their efforts to control the situation with the means at hand. Exhausted and desperate, she finally waited until the fires went out on their own to assess the damage.
Reconstruction promises to be complicated for the victims of these fires, because the losses are total and no compensation is possible. Children saw their school kits and schools go up in smoke.
Gustave Mparany
