Two Tanzanian biggest tourist hotels burnt to ashes

By Deogratias Kishombo

Dar es salaam

Two tourist hotels at Bagamoyo Beach just 65km in the North of commercial city of Dar es salaam were returned ‘ashes’ as the ‘blaze’ started from one the kitchens, no causalities were reported, officials said.

Paradise Hotels and Resorts and Oceanic Bay Hotels and resorts were completely burnt down and returned to ‘ashes’ as the blaze started in the Paradise Hotel kitchen, Front office manager Mr. Godfrey Runyungu told reporters at the beach in the evening today.

He said that after the explosion of the gas tank in the kitchen and restaurant block, the fire was supported by strong wind where it jumped the fence to neighboring Oceanic Bay Hotel in the left side from coast.

“The fire started around at ten but it took at least twenty minutes to destroy completely the two hotels before the firefighters from Dar es Salaam arrive at the scene” he said.

He said that they had booked 3 Canadians and 1 Swedish and others but all of them were escaped safely, but he failed to give the details on where they went after the incident.

“I think you see the situation, I can not remember everything now because of the fire” he said.

Villagers from poor Mangesani and neighboring villages most of them ‘youths’ rush to the scene and seemed with nothing in hands to extinguish fire. The atmosphere was full of smokes that made journalists difficult to get close to the burning buildings.

‘We are sorry for workers, we are very sorry, everything has destroyed but we have tried as our level best to save lives of people” said Mr Gueld Abdalah, a Hotel Chairman and also a father of Managing director.

He said that his hotel Paradise had 170 direct employees and 30 casuals and all of them were safe and nobody was injured but he told reporters that they were shocked to loose everything.

“Everybody is safe but we have lost everything” he said.

Earlier the Oceanic Bay Hotel Managing Director Mr Rahul Layan told reporters that the blaze started in the neighboring hotel and he was not sure exactly the starting point.

“I saw the fire coming from Paradise Hotel as the wind brought it here. We did not safe anything because everything has destroyed but we are safe” he said.

He said that after they saw the fire, they started to save lives of people and property but they did not reach anywhere because the fire was strong.

“As the fire was coming strongly because of wind, we saved only lives of people” he said.

However, it was drama as reporters saw groups of the youths taking computers, laptops, televisions, fie extinguishers and other equipments from the burning buildings.

“Do not be surprised I can assure you that some youth thieves arrived here with canoes from the sea and take a lot of things and they have gone” said a witness Mr. Edgar Nazar a Bagamoyo resident.

Earlier the Bagamoyo district Commissioner Mr Serenge Mrengo who also attended the incident said that the burning of these two tourist hotels was ‘impact to the national development especially tourism’

“We have lost a symbol of development in tourism economy” he said

He said that the two hotels had positive impact to Bagamoyo residents and the country as whole as a source of employment and foreign currency.