A 16 year old grade eleven pupil of Chadiza Secondary School has died after being hit with a javelin stick during inter-house competitions.
Sharon Phiri sustained a serious deep cut on her back of the head after being hit with a javelin by a named grade twelve pupil on Tuesday.
Eastern Province Police Commissioner Grace Chipalila confirmed the accident yesterday and said Sharon died at St Francis Mission Hospital on Wednesday after sustaining a serious injury that caused brain damage
Chipalila said the girl was hit with a javelin after she attempted to cross the pitch were the game was being played.
She said Sharon was part of the group that was on the running track racing but when she got tired she decided to cross over the pitch where she met her fate.
She said police have since instituted inquiry to establish what really caused the accident adding that the body of the decease was lying at the same hospital awaiting postmortem.
“She failed to complete the race and she decided to stop.When she stopped she was crossing over to the other side of the pitch when apparently she was stabbed on her back of the head with a javelin stick. She was rushed to St Francis Mission Hospital where she died yesterday(Wednesday).She said.
Sad.RIP
My heartfelt condolences to the family of Sharon phiri.
This is a very sad development for the family of this lost young life, the school , the community and the whole country. May her soul rest in peace.
That said the government needs to begin to implement Health and Safety measures in all areas of human activity to ensure that minimum standards of health and safety are observed at all times. H&S should not only be confined to industries but it should be implemented in all work places and learning institutions. Each school should be given clear guidelines on Health and safety to prevent and mitigate such tragic accidents.
Shamenda this is your area. Make sure that H&S measures are ubiquitous in areas of human activity.
I am so sorry, to hear this:
Dying should come easy
like a freight train you don’t hear when
your back is turned.
This is just so sad, MHSRIP
Thanks
Ba Wanzelu naimwe we are fed up of your comments. That was just an unforseen circumstance. It was just an accident baba. It can happen to any of us on the road, at home, at school etc. Throwing Javelin and hitting someone has got nothing to do with the government. Teachers are there to demarcate bounderies of the different categories of games taking place. Do you need Dr Phiri to come and demarcate the arenas for different games? How is he going to manage for all the schools in Zambia. Iyo mwandini bwafya. May the girl’s soul rest in eternal peace.
@CNN
As usual defending the indefensible!
99.9% accidents are preventable if the right course of action is taken to prevent them. Most accidents happen because of what is known as systemic errors or gross negligence on the part of people in positions of responsibility.
Look at the accident at the Chinena black spot in Chibombo. To me that is pure gross negligence perpetrated by both the drivers and government authorities. Government is spending huge sums of money building new roads instead of upgrading that part of the road to minimise those accidents. Before building new roads or universities they should first improve the standards of existing facilities.
If we continue with this attitude that most accidents are a cause of nature, then we will never develop ingenious ideas.
@Wnzelu, you seem to have a point but such nitty gritty stuff are difficult to eliminate completely. Anyway we will wait and see.
I believe every tragedy presents us with new challenges of how to prevent them happening again. I hear this child is not the first one to die under such horrific circumstances. If there any safety guidelines in place they need to be reviewed seriously so that new one are brought in to safe guard the life of sports children in schools.
Its no good to sit back and say its just an accident and so there is nothing we do to prevent such accidents from happening in the future.
@CNN
Now you are beginning to think proactively .
@CNN
I totally agree with Wanzelu! Under good Health & Safety measures – a proper risk assessment would have been done. It means that someone should have foreseen such a thing happening – and if not, why not – just so that accidents are reduced beforehand. This is NOT politics – it is health and safety of everyone. This is very very sad.
Very very sad….
You raise a child all the way to G11 and then she gets taken away from you?
I wish the family comfort.
Indeed so sad to the parents
This is sad. A young life should never be taken away like this.
Condolences to the family.
Too bad. No finger pointing looks like an accident. RIP
too bad. late 70’s mpatamatu secondary school in luanshya a similar incident happend.
yaba..you ought to educate these pupils in rural areas the dangers of trespassing..
sincere condolences to the bereaved family
Sincere condolences to the family, and school. Very sad indeed.
Why continue to play a sport that is not only hazardous but absolutely stupid. Ban it!
All sports can be hazardous mate. I just wish the organizers or teachers were a little bit responsible by ensuring safety guidelines were followed.
Very very sad indeed, i wish the girl’s family God’s comfort. MHRIP
I agree. its a senseless sport. It contributes nothing to your fitness levels or to your brain power. Its a kill you will not even need in life unless you are to become a cadre. even then, pangas are preferred in cadrerism.
A similar situation at Hillcrest Tech school in Livingstone happened in 1991. Our grade 12 colleague was hit with a javelin in the head while he was preparing for high jump, he died in hospital a few days later. That day is still very clear in my mind 23 years later, RIP Nehru Mwansa.
true! i remember that Hilcrest case too!! horrific it was.
“let us by our deeds be judged“
very sad indeed. government should make it a policy to have proper safety measures put in place for sports like these. its not worth loosing a young life. if the direction where they were throwing javelins was barricaded with white and red tape chances of this happening could have been greatly reduced. PE teachers should show more concern to safety. very sad. may God comfort the family of Sharon.
Rest in eternal peace my sister. To all of us who are still alive, this is a moment of reflection to remind us that death is always with us and thus the need to be prayerful and always have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ
I like that!
Very true.
I have seen that Jay Jay, Wnzelu, Sam, Matipa, Australia Engineer fimo fimo, Mundia, Dudelove, INDEPENDENT OBSERVER etc are useless. If the topic was about politics, they would have been the one to comment. Now that it something to do with death, they decide to remain mute. You hard-heartedness makes me doubt even your preferred presidential candidate. You are useless. RIP girl
why are you observing others and being petty?? get a life, find a job
Why are you observing me?
Mambala iwe ukayenda ku malilo u look at who else has come and who has not?
my comment is at number 3 my dear MM, hope this satisfies you. I have two children so I can imagine the pain that the parents and family of this poor soul will endure. It never makes sense to outlive your own child.
So sad that a life had to be lost in such unfortunate circumstances. My prayer is that the Almighty God will give strength to the bereaved family during this sorrowful moment. MHSRIP.
@pompwe.get a life mwana.educate who on trespassing.you think people living in rural areas are all just dull.thats the problem when you do not travel and live all your life in lusaka and the like.you grow up thinking everyone outside lusaka cant think and you are the only smart ones.this is just an accident.it could have happened to anyone.whether trespassing or not.
He has no idea that we’re now leaving Lusaka to set up base in the peripherals. Continue burying yo head in the Lusaka garbage my friend Pompwe.
Sad indeed .I have observed that several schools still maintain the playing grounds for javelin so close to other sports thus a becoming a safety danger to other sporting teams .
Very sad indeed. Rest in peace
Very sad. May her soul rest in eternal peace!
too bad, reminds me of my time at hillcrest, it happened in a similar manner. very sad development. mhsrip
Very sad MHSRIP. May the school put measures on safety as well as government.
1000 ways to die, MHSRIP
Isthis going to be a murder case? advise!! MHSRIP
It is an accident and the other girl will also need to be counselled! NO MURDER! May her sould rest in eternal peace!
Javelin is no longer done in most independent schools as it is regarded as a hazardous sport. Shot put is done with plastic shots. Government should look at stopping this sport or alternatively fence it off so that its done away from the audience.
I was a student at Chadiza and really MHSRIP.
Shame, Thats My former high school Mates. My Condolences.
We should stop this sport. As a country, we are not even good at it at any level!
there is nothing called a Javelin Stick.
It is called a Javellin. Kwasila.
condolences to the beleaved family, and may the soul of the dear beloved rest in eternal peace.
I happen to be tha brother of the Late NIRO Mwase who died at Hilcrest in 1991,he was in grade 11 then,and was doing his long jumps then when he mate his fate(MHSRIP)when these things happen you don’t have an explanation to it,i feel for that person who held the Javelin stick cos they don’t know anything its all the work of the enermy.it deversitates families ,our elder bro Niro was persived to be a future bread winner in tha family but he just died like that.but my parents allowed a person who threw the javeline to go scot free coz even him did not understand tha coz.
MHSRIP. Its so sad
Very sad story.
The School should be sued for criminal negligence
Ndobo and master u ur rite ,but the names of my late brother was Niro Mwase,and not mwansa you get intouch with me you seem to have Known my late bro.find me on face book.as brighton mwase.
Tragic event….
Very sad indeed. A life is lost at a tender age, may the good Lord comfort the bereaved family. Safety precautions should be put in place when school events take place to avoid accidents & loss of lives.
Sorry for javelin victim.Usually javelin markings are made far away from the spectators and athletes, although such accidents are not rare.My question is to the frequent bloggers like dobo,wansala e.t.c What do you guys do for a living?I hope you are not teachers.Someone has mentioned in letters to the editor in the post that poor results of grade 12 are due to teachers addiction to phone internet.Stop blogging and inculcate knowledge to pupils in GRZ schools.
I also witnessed incidence at hillcrest in 1991. Sad day. RIP
I also remember the incident at hillcrest in1991.I was on the other side of the sports field.
Sad event then and now.MHSRIP
I recall that Niro Mwase held on for about 2 days but finally succumbed to his injury at Livingstone General Hospital.The school was in morning throughout that time.I remember waving goodby as his coffin departed the school.
Like the young girls accident,these are incidences that are beyond our control.We can only wish that they did not happen.
Sad happening.
The author should have stuck to Nsenga.
Its a javelin not “Javelin stick” and one does not “play” atheletic disciplines.
Compromise on quality and that’s how we end up with so many grade 12 failures.
Very sad indeed. In my days at school, there was discipline when events like javelin shotput and discuss were on. At both the throw point and landing point we had responsible persons with scouts. No one was allowed to walk through the active areas and the individuals responsible to man these areas made sure that this was so. It is very clear that such strict discipline has fallen out of the window at sports days.
Has counselling been offered to the students especially her classmates?
Lets consider abolishing this spot,I also witnessed one incidence but it hit him on the leg and he survived.In the same eastern province.