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Emily Mbewe Chronicle Reporter
ROBBERS used explosives to blow up a wall at Flo Petroleum Service Station in Bulawayo’s Burnside suburb and stole more than $4,000, police confirmed. The robbers allegedly locked a worker in a backroom as they blasted through the wall in the early hours of Monday morning. Warren King, the director of the service station chain, said the robbers got away with a safe containing $4,682.

He said workers found bits of cash that were torn up during the explosion. “It’s the third time that thieves have struck at the service station. This time they used explosives to blast through a wall on Sunday night and stole a safe that contained cash which was meant to be banked on Monday morning,” said King.

Simbarashe Matimbe, a petrol attendant who was meant to be on duty on Monday morning, told The Chronicle he was lucky to be alive after he spent the night locked in one of the rooms behind the service station. He said he was surprised to discover the shop had been robbed as he did not hear the explosion.

“Sunday night I slept a bit late. I heard dogs that barked for a while but l didn’t suspect anything. I woke up at 2AM and went to the toilet and went back to sleep. They locked the screen door from outside so that I could not go out. “My boss arrived in the morning and noticed I wasn’t outside. He came to the back room only to find that it was locked from outside. That’s when we noticed that the safe had been stolen. A burglar bar had been broken and a window as well,” said Matimbe. Bulawayo provincial spokesperson Assistant Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the break-in and said investigations are in progress.

“There was unlawful entry and theft at Flo Petroleum service station in Burnside suburb on Sunday night, we’re still not sure of the amount that was stolen during the break-in. Investigations are in process,” said Asst Inspector Ncube who could not confirm whether any arrests had been made.