Woman Dies in Shinyanga House Fire After Returning for Money

Shinyanga. A 33-year-old woman, Agness James, a resident of Mwasele Street in Kambarage Ward, Shinyanga Municipality, has tragically died after re-entering a burning house to retrieve her money.

The incident occurred at approximately 1:00am on December 16, 2025, when witnesses reported hearing screams for help before rushing to the scene.

The deceased’s husband, Vincent Kilocha, recounted the tragic events that unfolded early Tuesday morning. He noticed unusual movement in the sitting room before discovering smoke filling the residence.

"I felt as if something was moving in the living room. When I woke up to check, I saw smoke coming from there. I woke up my wife and children, and we all rushed outside. I then went to ask for help from a neighbour," he said.

After ensuring his family had evacuated safely, Kilocha went to seek assistance from neighbours. Having left his phone inside during the evacuation, he knocked on gates to alert others to the emergency.

"When I returned and asked the children where their mother was, they told me she had gone back inside to collect her money. By then, the fire had grown too strong for me to go back in. We called the Fire and Rescue Force, who managed to put out the fire, but everything had already been destroyed," he added.

Neighbour David Johnson described arriving to find the blaze already fully developed.

"By the time I got there, the fire was huge. People were asking about the woman of the house, saying she had gone back inside. We tried to extinguish the fire using sand and water, but it kept spreading," he said.

Firefighters later arrived and extinguished the flames, subsequently discovering the woman’s body inside the residence.

Police officers removed the body for further investigation.

Mwasele Street chairperson Cosmas Lucas received notification of the fire at around 3:00am and rushed to the scene while flames continued to rage.

"When we tried calling the Fire and Rescue Force, the phone lines were unstable, so we decided to go and report the incident in person using a motorcycle," he said.

Edward Selemani, operations officer for the Shinyanga Regional Fire and Rescue Force, confirmed the incident and indicated preliminary investigations suggest the fire was caused by an electrical fault.

Selemani urged residents to regularly replace old electrical wiring and avoid overloading power outlets with multiple appliances.

"We received the report and arrived at the scene at around 3:00am, where we managed to extinguish the fire. After putting it out, we recovered the body of the homeowner, who had already died and was found clutching the money she had returned to collect," he said.