Friday, March 29, 2024

Nyimba accident claims 26

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Twenty six people have died while 52 others were seriously injured in a road traffic accident involving a Lusaka bound NPS bus in Nyimba District in Eastern Province yesterday (Saturday).

25 passengers died on the spot in the accident which occured when the driver of the bus failed to negotiate a corner after a front tyre burst while one person died upon arrival at Nyimba District Hospital last evening. This brings the number of those who have died to 26.

Both Eastern Province Deputy Police Commanding Officer Chrispin Mudene and Nyimba District Commissioner Alenxander Miti confirmed the accident to ZANIS which happened yesterday around 14 hours at Nyalugwe turn off about 72 kilometres from Nyimba on the Great East Road.

Out of the 25 who died on the spot, two were children, eleven males and 12 were female and the 52 that survived were last (Saturday) evening admitted to Nyimba district hospital.

The driver of the bus has not yet been established and it is not yet known whether he could be among the dead or those that survived.

Local Police say some bodies could still be trapped in a ditch where the accident occurred because the bus overturned after a tyre burst and was not yet placed on it’s tyres by early this morning.

Nyimba and Petauke hospital mortuaries could not accommodate the dead bodies prompting a transfer of some of them to St. Francis’ hospital in Katete while others were referred to Chipata General Hospital this morning.

Nyimba district Hospital could only accommodate six bodies among them two children and six female adults while Petauke District hospital mortuary received bodies of two female adults.

17 bodies that include 11 males and six females were received by Eastern Province Deputy Permanent Secretary, Eularia Syamujaye, Chipata District Commissioner Nicholas Banda and other Government officials at 02:15 hours this morning at Chipata General Hospital.

Four accidents have occurred involving long distance buses since January this year along Great East Road, claiming a number of lives.

And four people out of the 27 who died in yesterday (Saturday)’s Nyimba accident about 13 hours on Great East Road, more than 70kilometres from Nyimba near Nyalugwe turn off in Eastern Province have been identified.

Zambia Police Service Spokesperson Bonny Kapeso told ZANIS in an interview that the deceased have been identified as Paul Simukoko 28, of Chipata, Mwalwa Kalasa 41, and Moses Kalasa 34 of Gonda Barracks,and Winston Mwanza of Lusaka ‘s Chilenje.

Mr Kapeso disclosed that among those who escaped death was a police officer only identified as Constable Phiri No 36957 of Roan Police station and the wife who sustained serious injuries.

The Police Spokesperson noted that the driver of the bus Scania NPS registration number ABD 5666 which overturned has not been seen
but it is suspected he could be among the dead. He however, said Police were still investigating the matter.

On the cause of the accident, Mr Kapeso noted that the bus was overladen with an excess 22 passengers saying it has a capacity of 60 passengers but 82 were on board at the time of the tragic accident and that technical problems triggered a tyre burst causing the bus to overturn.

The deceased have been taken to Chipata, Petauke and Nyimba Hospital mortuaries and those who survived the accident are receiving treatment at Nyimba District Hospital and St Francis Mission Hospital in Katete District.

22 COMMENTS

  1. Let’s have an independent Public Transport Safety Investigation Agency established whose task will be to monitor maintenance records of the operators. This agency should also conduct on spot checks on the buses for functionality of things such as wipers, lights, power stiring, brakes, tires & tire pressure, etc. Periodic checkups on the health status of the drivers should be conducted and documented accordingly. Passengers must report conduct of the bus crew to the agency should the behavior likely endager passengers, other motorists, or pedestrians. Transporters in violation must be penalized.

  2. May their souls rest in eternal peace. The manufaturer was not foolish enough when he put the capacity of the bus. But the problem the bus drivers have is to make extra money for their pockets.

  3. My condolences to the bereaved families.Govt should try to put measures to protect people from such tradegies.How could someone over load a bus by 22 that was too much at least if it was one excess.The manufucturers are not foolish to have put the capacity of the bus as alluded by MS.

  4. Carrying capacity 60, bus was carrying 82 passengers, where were the RTSA instead of just impounding unregistered vehicles can these buggers do something about this wanton destruction of life by Public Transport operators. This is not the first time and these buses do not even have facilities for standing passengers but guess what people are loaded at 3/4 the fare and it is for the driver and conductor, GREED. whether ot was 25 or 1 life, the thing is life should never be lost.

  5. The road between Nyimba and Petauke is bad. Many accidents have occured on this stretch of the road. Instead of blaming the bus owners, whoever is is charge of repairing this road should od so quickly.

    I don’t think carrying 25 extra passengers can cause a long distance bus to have a tyre burst. The maximum number of passenger is meant to correspond with the available seats and not weight. The so called over laoding however could be responsible for the high number of deaths as the extra 25 did not have seats to protect their bodies against impact.

    Let’s fix this bad patch of the road/

  6. The RTSA are busy chasing Taxi drivers in town instead of addressing real issues what a shame.These buggers in the RTSA are getting a lot of money through corrupt practices more especially in Kabwe.The so called Boss in the Kabwe office is giving people alot of problems just to register a vehicle.Let him be dealt with accordingly as he has become a nuisence.Imwe you should be checking all the bus before they start off and us passengers also should not be bundled like sucks next time.Drag the driver and the conductor to the police station if they become funny okay lets not wait for these fools in the RTSA.

  7. #7 depending on the mechanics of what this bus was meant to do. 25 extra passengers with luggage could be something like over 5 tons above the normal weight limit and might have stress on the vehicle rendering it vulnerable. Let us agree overloading is against the law and normal operating conditions of the vehicle. I agree the road is very bad, you would imagine the speed this guy would have been doing on this bad road for the bus to overturn and kill this number of people on a bad road. An ABD bus should have been registered in 2005, so the bus is surely and fairly still new, but for a public transport vehicle operating on very bad roads and daily covering over 600 kilometers.

  8. Driving in zambia is a serious occupational hazzazd. most zambian drivers are a danger to society. They do not know the use of mirrors. Speeding is seen as a nessecety because the car has that capability. GRZ needs to address driver capabilities if we are to avoid so much loss of life and money.
    Insuarence companies are licking there lips in Zambia because of the poor driving skills of zambian drivers. This is a high earning industry in zambia all because of the drivers with fake papers.

  9. I agree 10 like someone said qwe drive like we are walking, all of a sudden a guy stops in front of you ayamba kushimika. Driving is indeed a hazard in this country.

  10. so many souls have been lost along the great east road. the drivers take advantage of the high number of people traveling on this main road. they know very well that its among the busiest roads as it also leads to malawi. it looks like sometimes they (officers in charge do control the conditions of the buses, but CORRUPTION is another big obstacle. the offices are willing to get a small amount for their pockets forgetting that they are putting many souls on risk. the road isn’t that good, thats another greatest reason of many souls lost. no one knows when thet road will be entirely maintained. Drivers are careless too. may their souls rest in peace

  11. most of the accidents happen on this great east road.Is the road that bad or whats happening in eastern province?MTSRIP.

  12. een if the roads are bad,over loading passenger’s is another issue and it’s a crime.i wonder where our law eforcement agencies are.this is not the first time so many lives hav e been lost due to greedy people who want to make money at the expense of safety..some one should do something about this,this si too much.the nyimba accident and the nkalamabwe accident of 2006 which claimed alot of lives.may there souls rest in internal peace.

  13. Sure the bus did pass thru some police check ponts on it’s way from Chipata. Overloading, defective bus, public concern, bad road etc. with so many buses on the roads, why jump on a bus with already 19 extras only to be the 20th. Sometimes we people have no sence of personal safty.These operators just after money now turned blood money. Too late lives already lost.

  14. i was involved in a similar accident in 2005 near nyimba, and upto now am still afraid to get on these long distance coaches. my appeal goes to government to strengthen the monitoring and road safety agencies and ensure that lives are saved. also govt should create a policy where victims and their families are cattered for in terms of proper medical care and insurance.
    may the souls of the departed rest in peace

  15. I SEND MY DEEP HEART FELT CONDOLENCES TO THE RELATIVES AND FAMILIES OF THE DEPARTED SOULS.
    MAY THE LIVING RELATIVES FIND PEACE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST THE ONE WHO KNOWS ALL THINGS.

    LETS MOURN TOGETHER IN THE LORD

  16. I SEND MY DEEP HEART FELT CONDOLENCES TO THE RELATIVES AND FAMILIES OF THE DEPARTED SOULS WHO DIED IN THE ROAD ACCIDENT IN NYIMBA DISTRICT.
    MAY THE LIVING RELATIVES FIND PEACE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST THE ONE WHO KNOWS ALL THINGS.

    LETS MOURN TOGETHER IN THE LORD
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