Five people have sustained serious injuries after falling off a moving Fuso Fighter truck in Mpulungu.
The accident happened around 12:00hrs yesterday when the side of the truck, which was carrying over 50 mourners, opened, and threw the mourners mostly women on the tarmac.
Both police and health officials in the district confirmed the accident and described the conditions of the five victims, who were rushed to Mbala General Hospital as critical.
Police said the driver of the Fuso Fighter truck registration No. ABP 5982 who was identified as Joseph Simukonda has since been detained and will appear in court soon.
One victim, Maggie Nakazwe said the accident happened at Mupata village whilst the mourners were on their way back from the grave to bury a member of the Catholic Church who had died.
She told ZANIS in an interview at the district hospital that most of the victims were members of the Catholic Church in the area.
Nakazwe narrated that as the truck reached ZAOGA church before entering the main road, the driver suddenly accelerated, forcing the packed truck to surge forward.
She said the resulting momentum forced the side of the truck to give in thereby exerting pressure on the people who were at the back of the truck.Nakazwe who herself sustained a bruised knee said most of the injured were women.
This is the second serious accident to occur within the course of the week in Mpulungu.
On Tuesday, a truck belonging to Raubex contractors which was carrying workers who are tarring the Kasama /Mpulungu road careered off the road and overturned at Kafukula village near Mankonga Basic School.
This was after the driver failed to negotiate a sharp corner.
Several workers were injured in the accident and have since been admitted to the hospital.
ZANIS
Too bad…
What do you expect when there are no rigid rules as never to carry people on lorries and trucks??
sad that people are still being transported like bags of charcoal
no pa zed only!
im not surprised people fell off, i’ve seen those ‘cantas’ packed with so many people, like chickens
This story is all too familiar. And some people have lost lives before coz of the same. Authoorities really need to do something about this.
On the other hand, people should learn to take care of their own safety. Yopu dont need to wait for the Police to tell you that some of these contraptions are a safety hazard
backward chaps surely are such modes of transport to be used for moving people?? yaba.i hope people will learn a lesson from this..wasnt the kawambwa disaster enough to teach you backward people a lesson??yaba
too bad….but we are to blame,we think overloading when it comes to church and funeral issues is acceptable.motoka ngayaisula ninshi naisula.RTSA should do something about this before abantu tabalapwa mu zed.
SHAME! TOO BAD.MAY THEIR SOULS REST IN ETERNAL PEACE. OK AT FIRST IT WAS FUNNY AND BOY DID I LAUGH(as though am not in the library) BUT SERIOUSLY ITS BAD.BUT SOME TIMES ITS THE MOURNERS FAULTS,IF THEIR IS NOT ENOUGH TRANSPORT BETTER STAY AND HELP AT HOME.YES PRESENCE MEANS A LOT BUT IN THIS CASE ITS UNDERSTANDABLE.BUT SOMETIMES WOMEN CAN GET TOO EXCITED OVER NOTHING.I HOPE THE DRIVER GETS FAIR TRAIL,TRUE LIVES HAVE BEEN LOST BUT HEY ACCIDENTS DO HAPPEN BUT THEY ARE AVOIDABLE.AFTER ALL HE DIDNT LIFT THEM AND PUT THEM ON THE TRUCK.