Press Reports
HARARE
Glen View and Budiriro
A seven-year-old boy died of injuries suffered in the looting stampede at Tichagarika Shopping
Centre in Glen View 3 on Tuesday. The boy was identified as Redias Musona of Budiriro. He
died on admission to Harare Central Hospital. He was found lying in agony and with injuries
believed to have been inflicted by glass or a bottle when a mob retreated from a volley of
teargas fire from a helicopter. It is suspected that the mob ran over him. A patrol team from Glen
Norah police station in the area whisked him to the hospital where he later died.
Helicopters were not only deployed into Glen View, but also into Budiriro, to ward off rioters who
wanted to continue looting. The situation came under control after the army was deployed on
Tuesday evening.
Mabvuku and Tafara
Some shop owners in Mabvuku and Tafara began what they were calling “a big clean up” of the
debris from smashed shops. Long queues formed outside less damaged shops as children
waited to buy groceries, mainly bread and milk. Residents complained of hunger in the
aftermath of the two days of rioting. Shops were destroyed and looted of all the food. In town
supermarkets remained closed with nowhere to buy the daily essentials.
Epworth
People were reporting being hungry in Epworth because of the looting during the food riots.
There was no food left. Some parents decided not to take any chances and kept their children
at home. Despite the calm, some schools remained closed. Students at Domboramwari
Secondary School said school authorities had closed the school because teachers had failed to
turn up due to problems with transport caused by the riots. Local buses, most of them with
broken windows from the riots, ferried workers into town. Some motorists unsure of the safety of
their cars along the way took buses and left cars behind.
Soldiers recovered tins of beef and beans, packets of rice and empty soft drink crates in maize
fields near Domboramwari Shopping Centre. Police briefly held suspects in connection with the
alleged loot. A man suspected of having used his truck to carry the loot was questioned and
later released.
Thursday, 22 January 1999
Although Harare was much quieter on Thursday, there were still reports of incidents from many
suburbs. The major activity was in centres outside Harare. The effect of putting the army into
the situation had been a dramatic reduction in incidents. Outside Harare, the unrest continued in
areas in Mashonaland West, Mazvingo and the Midlands. Very few incidents were reported
from either Matabeleland North or South.
Press Reports
HARARE
Although the Government appealed to schools to open, most school in the high-density suburbs
remained closed. Only a few in the low-density suburbs remained open. Some parents had
withdrawn their children when the riots began while others were asked to withdraw their children
from boarding schools because of food shortages.
Chinyaradzo Children's Home ran out of perishables during the strife forcing the matron, Mrs
Stella Mesikano, to ask for police escort to look for mealie-meal. One resident ended up giving
five dozen buns to the home for the 63 children housed there. However, Harare Children's
Home director, Mrs Maria Sithole, said they had just managed to meet the food demands of the
70 children at the home. The stocks had dwindled to very low levels.
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