Fire at BKB caused by burglars

Millions of rand worth of damage was caused when a burglary at the BKB shop and goods receiving store at Paterson near Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape went wrong and a fire broke out.

Fire at BKB caused by burglars
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Kelvyn Breetzke, general manager for trading at BKB, said the fire broke out in the early hours of Monday morning, 3 August, after an explosion.

“There are rumours that the fire was caused when the burglars, we don’t know how many there were, tried to open the safe with a grinder and sparks then somehow caused some material to catch fire,” said Breetzke.

“We have not been allowed access to the damaged building yet, but we believe that the safe was opened by the burglars and the contents removed.”

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He said the shop and goods receiving store were very badly damaged by the fire and while the value of stock destroyed and the repair and/or replacement cost of the building has not yet been calculated, it will be considerable.

“We are currently open for business in [a] temporary building and have already started receiving replacement stocks. We would like to thank our customers and suppliers for their support during this time. We can assure them that we are making every effort to get the required stocks in place as soon as possible,” said Breetzke.

No arrests have yet been made, according to a police spokesperson.