Twelve people have died in a fatal road traffic accident in Mazabuka after an over loaded light truck they were travelling in plunged into Shoprite Checkers killing eleven people among them two toddlers on the spot.
Ten others are battling for their lives in the district hospital.
Both Mazabuka district officer commanding, Lizzy Machina and Southern province commanding officer, Lemmy Kajoba who confirmed the accident in Mazabuka today said the death toll was expected to rise because of serious injuries the victims sustained.
Mr. Kajoba said the accident occurred around 06: 45 hours when a Mitsubishi Canter Registration Number ABJ 3688 lost control and rammed into Mazabuka Shoprite barriers before it overturned.
The commanding officer says six men including the driver who he identified as Lovewell Chileya of Lusaka, four women and two children died in the accident.
Mr. Kajoba says the vehicle was carrying twenty seven fish traders from Lusaka to Monze.
He has cautioned drivers to be careful whenever they approach the slop in front of Mazabuka Shoprite due to the many accidents that have so far occurred at the same spot.
He said the loaded truck had been reduced to a shell because of the impact of the accident.
And Mazabuka district commanding officer, Lizzy Machina who supervised the search of the bodies at Shoprite said a toddler was discovered dead at 08:45 as well wishers, council workers and Zambia Sugar employees helped in the search.
Machina said the accident could have been avoided if all the passengers heeded to the advice by the driver after he had asked them to offload their cargo near Mazabuka Community radio.
According to Machina, the victims were pitched on top of the cargo which included, mealie meal, sugar, sugarcane, opaque beer and fridges.
But Mazabuka district hospital Superitendant, Cosmas Chishimba said the hospital has only recorded 11 deaths among them five males, four females and two children.
Dr. Chishimba further said 10 others are battling for their lives and described their condition as serious.
He however said the challenge the hospital administration is faced with is the identification of the dead because of lack of identity cards.
Dr. Chishimba said his office was now working closely with Police to find ways of searching for identity cards for the deceased from their bags.
She explained that the driver pleaded with the passengers to get off the truck because Police traffic officers had cautioned him against travelling to Monze using a non roadworthy vehicle.
And conductor of the fateful truck, Kennedy Kasongo explained that the truck which departed Lusaka around 19:00 hours from Chibolya market had mechanical faults on two occasions.
Kasongo said the first break down was in Chilanga where the truck had a tyre burst but the driver managed to control it.
He further disclosed that after the tyre was mended at 23:00 hours yesterday, the driver started off for Monze and managed to by-pass the Kafue road block without any problem despite the over load.
Kasongo however said Police traffic officers at Ten miles police post advised the driver not to proceed with the truck to Monze because it was overloaded and advised that he finds alternative transport in order to decongest the truck.
He said some passengers refused to heed to the advice.
Kasongo said it was at that point that the driver kick started the truck and later switched off the engine forcing the truck to drive at a faster speed as it descended to the sloppy Shoprite road.
[ZNBC/QFM]
Yangu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! abanthu balapwa ku Zambia through accidents. In the morning, we were reading about another fatal accident along Ndola-Kitwe highway which claimed a number of lives and now its in Mazabuka again. Mwe Lesa twafweni!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! May the soul of our departed collegues rest in peace and their family be comforted during this trying moment.
I am stunned at the level of avoidable tragedy in Zambia.
something needs to be done to curb this unnecessary loss of human life on our roads. Police, please do your work instead of always wanting kang’ono.
Town planners or whoever is responsible must quickly address the issue about that particular stretch of the road. This is not the first time lives have been lost at the said spot.
May their souls rest in peace and we wish a quick recovery to the injured victims.
Too bad something need to be done on this Mazabuka shoprite . So many accidents have been recorded at the same sport. MTSRIP
This very sad, but the unfolding story haz a lot of grey areaz.
put humps at the sport do we sure have to wait for an old white man from south africa to tell us that humps are nided at the sport .councils busy sharing plots and demolishing other pipoz house put humps on the road and save lives as oppozd to killing pipo by heart attacks when u demolish there buildings.MYTSRIP.
What a tragedy!How can our police allow a vehicle that is not roadworthy carry people like that?and driving the whole night!This mishap should not have happened if the police had done their work.
this happens every election year! i have been following these deaths for a long time now and i concluded that most presidents in Africa they sacrifice their own people under satanism, they are promised victories which mostly they get. Those who have good memories my agree with me on the this sad happenings!! HOW MANY REMEMBERS (kawambwa incident)))???? This is what you get when you have olds in governments. they don’t work hard to secure their victory.
# 6 Jombo Nokia I have lived in Mazabuka and I can not understand why so many accidents take happen right in the middle of the town. There are so many humps to slow down traffic but we continue having fatalities on same spot. The humps cover a distance of 200 metres. These days when you go to Zambia and you drive through the towns, there are humps on the main roads. The problem with this spot is that driving from Lusaka to Livingstone the road is going down a slop. BUT there are plenty of humps for God’s sake. Drivers are just reckless in Zambia.
why are these victims left to struggle for their lives in an obviously ill equipped level 1 hospital? they should all be having CT scans in UTH at the very least. a high fatality accident like this denotes a very high likelihood serious internal injuries in survivors
please people, evacuate these poor, innocent victims who have no one to talk on their behalf
#8. Get real. These things happen any other time in Zambia. We should just take the policemen that allowed those trucks from point A to task. What has that got to do with a president. Lets be logical in our ‘conclusions’. Heartfelt condolences to all the bereaved and may the souls of the departed rest in peace.
M.T.S.R.I.P. very sad indeed.
the track should have been impounded at ten miles police post! how can you let a non road worthy vehicle on the road? its not worthy! # 8 the satanism version of the story is bullshit! the sooner you realise that we all have to be responsible the better. this is nt satanism but corruption and irresponsible behaviour. police where either paid by the driver so that he can proceed or the police are nt doing there job or the drivers fault. the driver turn the engine off in my understanding truck use hydraulic breaks which will only work efficiently when the enigne is running. MTSRIP
M.T.S.R.I.P, Here we go again at Shoprite, please, how many accidents has happened at shoprite- mazambuka? we still can not learn. that corner or should i say the curve is not good for trucks coming speeding. wish we can have different routes for them dam useless trucks. my condolences to the families. maybe the driver was even drunk- utujilijili-
That Lusaka-Livingstone road should not go through Mazabuka town. Not throught that T junction. It should be diverted to where it can be straight and safer!!
… the fellow switched OFF the ENGINE…. why? problem is not just Mazabuka. prod.
How many police check points are there from lusaka to mazabuka town? I can smell nichekeleko business somewhere. I feel bad for the deceaseds’ families. May God give the injured a quick recovery.
No.8
You are an extreme case!!! Someone has to work on your mindset to be able to make you see things the way normal people do!
it has become a common syndrome in zambia to switch of the engine of the vehicle on the slop. you wonder you taught people to do this. all these computerised vehicles may not work this way. olden manual vehicles might operate. please avoid turning of the engine while driving. it is very dangerous. however, the council too must put humps on that road.
Can’t we have a road that bypasses this shoprite in Mazabuka? Aint that 1/3 of the cost of a bye election?
Yshould the police advice the driver. They were supposed to arrest him and not allow him to pass. Kafue police also why did they allow him to pass. Anyway MTSRINEP for our brothers and sisters
There have been so many similar accidents (vehicles hitting into shoprite building) at the same spot: shoprite building. Can’t something be done?
This was suicide. How can a qualified driver switch of the engine and let go the vehicle s/he is driving?? The vehicle was locked inside it can not turn but go straight. If u remove the key from its slot the car should not be pushed forward towards a bend. I have 20yrs of driving on and off road.
I lived in Mazabuka from 1986 to 1990.
The town planners (if they exist) should reroute that steep road to end the needless loss of lives in Mazabuka. Nothing else will do!
Lets pray 4 de police officer or police dog that received kang’ono nd let-em proceed 2 die also. Amen!
# 15 I agree with you. It appears, the problem is the T junction, and drivers fail to negotiate that corner.
I remember last time when pupils died in a track accident in northern province. I thougt there is a law that prohibits use of trucks to ferry people. Now the law has stopped working.
Let that corner be made a one way road
Sad,MSRIP…in my opinion it all boils down to the driver!the chap was careless period !
Sad news to hear.I was born and grown up in mazabuka for over 20yrs.Many lives have been lost on that same spot since there was first a big tree and a toilet.we used to say its a place of evil sacriface and satanic donations.Now that am a full born again christian,i understand things fully,that spot needs alot of prayers,put anoiting oil and bring down any alters of witchcraft,satanism and blood sacrifaces that have been made to claim innocent lives and blood…we need to stand up and get spiritually angry with the devils schemes.MTSRIP
Mwebantu this bend has become a death trap so many people have died here. Is there no way some safety measures can be put in place. RSTA please do something.
Its stupid of the police officers to allow an overloaded truck to pass a police check point .As usual nichekeleko syndrome.
we will now say thez something behind it……why is it happening every now n then.i think drivers should be using the first turn rather than going down. too bad basa………..MSRIP.passegers!! lets us get the advices.