Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Five pupils and a teacher from Hillcrest Secondary school die in road accident

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Five pupils and a teacher from Hillcrest National Technical Secondary in Livingstone have died in a road traffic accident, while 10 sustained serious injuries in an accident that occurred on Great North Road near Kozo Lodge 5 Kilometers South of Choma at about 22 hours on Friday night.

Those that died were identified as Hayungu Titus grade nine, Banda Gabriel grade 12, Kaputa Mukumbi grade 11, Siame Remmy grade 12, Robby Zulu grade and Sikaaswe Siyasiya a teacher.

Assistant Police Public Relations Officer Esther Katongo said the five died on the spot while one who was among the two that were being evacuated to Livingstone Central Hospital died on the way.

In a statement issued yesterday, Ms Katongo said the accident involved was a Mitsubishi Rosa bus registration number AJC 5110, a property of Hillcrest National Technical Secondary School driven by Joseph Kafwimbi Mwape, 35 of highlands in Livingstone.

She said the bus which was heading to Canicius Secondary School from Livingstone for a Coca Cola sporting event, was involved in an accident with a DAF truck ,registration number ABZ 8175 and a trailer number 8175T which was stationary.

She said the accident happened when the driver of the Minibus who was overtaking a stationed truck in the process hit into the same truck as he tried to get back to his lane upon seeing an oncoming motor vehicle.

“Due to the impact, 6 passengers, of which 5 are pupils and one teacher died, 10 were seriously injured and 9 are admitted to Choma General Hospital while one has been evacuated to Livingstone Central Hospital.

“20 were treated as out patients, the driver escaped without injuries, five bodies have been deposited in Choma General Hospital mortuary while one is in Livingston General Hospital Mortuary and the driver has been charged with Causing Death by dangerous driving,”Ms Katongo said.

General Education Minister, John Phiri expressed regret on the untimely death of five pupils and one teacher from Hillcrest National Technical Secondary school.

Dr Phiri Minister conveyed his condolences to the families of the deceased and the school management and further informed the nation that all funeral expenses will be borne by Government and all arrangements will be communicated in due course.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Ministry of General Education Spokesperson Hillary Chipango said the ministry has also suspended the Coca Cola sporting event that was scheduled to start yesterday in Monze at Canicius Secondary school.

The Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) has expressed sadness by the death of the five pupils and a teacher from Hillcrest National Technical High School who died in a road crash in Choma last night. Preliminary accident investigations conducted by the RTSA have revealed that the driver of the mitsubishi Rosa registration number AJC 5110, Joseph Kafwimbi Mwape, caused the crash due to overspeeeding.

The report has further revealed that the crash happened when the driver of the bus was overtaking a stationed truck in the process hit into the same truck as he tried to get back to his lane upon seeing an oncoming motor vehicle.The Agency has questioned the school authorities why the bus was allowed to move at night and therefore putting the lives of the pupils at risk.The crash happened about about 22:00 hours in Choma.
RTSA would therefore like to appeal to motorists to always exercise caution and patience when travelling at night. At night visibility is poor hence motorists should drive at moderate speed and ensure the road is fully visible.

43 COMMENTS

  1. Such devastating news from a great school. Terrible tragedy. So sad to lose young lives in that manner.

    • Has lungu and PF heard about this?? Are they going to pick up the funeral costs and declare a national mourning???

    • The truck was parked on the wrong side of the road. Speeding does not apply here because the truck was stationed on the road instead of off the road to allow other vehicles to pass without hindrance

    • iwe kanjimaano!what shallow thinking is this? You are the people causing accidents on the roads, the minibus driver obviously misjudged the distance of the approaching vehicle and did not reduce his speed! never mind where the other truck is stationed it is your responsibility to lookout for insane drivers! unless you are one yourself!

    • Sad. So many factors seem to have caused the accident. Incompetent driver, poor decision making by school authorities I.e. how do you allow a school bus to travel at night.

  2. This looks like another possible head on collision …why is it that these intercity connecting roads like GNR and GER are not dual carriage. Why are you travelling at night with pupils?

    • EXACTLY – The headmaster should be charged as well, and tournament organisers. Students whilst under school authority should not travel after dark for safety or security reasons. simples!!!!

    • This is clearly a fault accident by the school bus driver how do you attempt to overtake a stationary truck without considering oncoming traffic..again the question is are these PSV licenses worth the paper the are printed on; this is what RTSA should be looking at!!

  3. As usual bad road system cld b to blame. Broken down vehicles park on the road in this country, with tree branches layed on the road as a warning, in the nite. Pa Z. Innocent lives lost fo what?

  4. Very sad news. But why did the school authorities permit the students to undertake a night trip. Who authorized that trip? As Zambians we need to stop this casual attitude towards things. Am extremely saddened by this news.

  5. Isn’t it sad that the Minister ‘s only concern is that govt will pick up the funeral costs as if that will console the parents of the deceased pupils. Such casual approach to continous road accidents which now claim more Zambians than all diseases combined. When is govt going to sit up and realise that we have a national epidemic!? Pliz fire that Soko guy from rtsa and recruit a competent person not that former driver who only qualification is a birth certificate! Twachula pafula!!! My heart bleeds for the parents of the deceased, MTSRIP

    • This is what this lazy Govt is good at paying for Funeral costs within just a month of the last accident…why do we pay insurance..this govt should have been addressing the core issues poor marking on roads, designs, and poorly trained or questionable corruptly acquired licenses.

    • @Mr Nye or whatever you are called – Do you really have brains to think or you think with ar.se!
      Dr Phiri is fact the most competent and sensible person in PF (and that includes President Lungu). Dr Phiri is only responsible for Ministry of Education and has rightly offered to help with funeral costs. He cant do more than that because his remit ends there. He didn’t have to offer that help and he did it out pity or mercy.
      It shows how naive, stupid and ignorant you are to expect Dr Phiri to start intervening in Road Safety matter when there is a sitting minister of Transport – that yellow albino Kapembwa Simbao. He is the one you should be attacking not John Phiri. With that flag you appear to be in the USA and I would have expected you to be more sensible. Unfortunately, you are out…

    • …cont’d
      @Mr Nye or whatever you are called – Unfortunately, you are out of the jungle but your head is full jungle – mother fuc.ker!!

  6. ..this is a case were the driver misjudges the distance and the speed of an on coming vehicle…. it is even easier to notice an on coming vehicle because at night of the headlights…even tho we are unable to construct dual carriage…we can atleast manage to provide hard shoulder…it does not need to be tarred…RSTA is supposed to on 24/7…. immediately the truck broke down and pausing a danger to other road users, RSTA were supposed to be at site until it was moved to a much safer position…that’s their primary responsibility…road safety…

    • ..RSTA guys are not supposed to depend only on their toll free to be informed of such dangers….they have enough patrol vehicles…..all they need is to assign 2 officers from kabwe to patrol a stretch of highway eg kabwe – kapiri from 06 to 18hrs and another crew from 18 to 06hrs and the same on ndola – kapiri stretch officers from ndola office….chingola – solwezi….kabwe- chibombo…Lusaka-chibombo…..livingstone-choma etc….safety don’t just come like manner from heaven…you have to work for it….if ths idea was in place probably this accident and others could not have happened….very annoying indeed

    • Well I know for us outside the country, this looks like an easy thing to do. But the rot starts from the head going downwards.
      Lungu would not listen – you can even see it in his body language! People are dying and here is a president who has never taken it on himself to lead in front to try and do something. BUT alas he would not even a single statement! To him it is like nothing happened – yet these are young intelligent lives that were lost needlessly!
      To the contrary, some Zambians will tell you to vote for the “humble” president WHO in actual fact does nothing and takes no action even when the situation is getting worse. Meanwhile, people are dying like rats on Zambian roads but Soko keeps the job at RATSA! This is sickening!

    • @Za:
      Yes, and even your grandmother knows that BUT it wont happen overnight! Be pragmatic and say something more sensible!

    • so saddening that pipo like Chilyata are allowed to express their stupid visions and foresight. How impossible is the dual hwy? This is way passed due bro.

  7. Very sad news, too many lives being lost in road accidents. Urgent measures need to be put in place i.e. national sensitisation of road users both drivers and the public has to be conducted vigorously in same charged spirit that the ruling party and oppoosition campaign for elections. Dual carriage way with hard shoulder should be constructed on all major long stretch roads, that way broken down vehicles can be cleared out of the way unto hard shoulder whilst slow moving traffic and trucks can maintain position in slow moving lane.

  8. VERY SAD, IS IT RIGHT TO PUBLISH NAMES OF THE DECEASED ,IN THE MEDIA FOR THAT MATTER ,BEFORE RELATIVES ARE INFORMED? JUST THINKING.

    • It’s not right BUT in Zambia, there is no protocols, no formal ways of doing things and no one notices the anomalies.

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  10. Shocking. This is a major disaster and loss not only to the families, but to the Country. When this many young and promising minds suddenly disappear, a big gap is left behind. Future Scientists, Engineers and Technocrats are gone. It’s bad enough that preventable diseases cause a lot of loss of life in our Country, but now to compound the problem of loss of life by carelessness is like asking to become extinct as a people. And we wonder why we seem to be mark-timing. It really really hurts.

  11. And what is thevrole of the police in this? To announce a fatal road accident after it occurs when they could have prevented it? There is a police road block just as you leave Livingstone, why didnt they stop the vehicle from proceeding at night and force it to return to base? They have no power to do so? Ooh ooh? At road blocks the police even allow trucks without rear lights to pass through, and when there is an accident they will proudly announce that the accident was caused by a vehicle without tear lights! We need to change our kind sets in this country.

  12. You *****s who are always on social media let’s see were u are from watch dog now here. Pls prepare your tears make this post . then after GBM guy scot and they likes we demand for a convition bola pa shi

  13. The main problem is packing stationary vehicles on the road, stop that behaviour because it is dangerous. Take all broken down vehicles out of the road. You do not expect a fast moving vehicle to stop immediately. I know KOZO lodge area very well because the police officers like stopping vehicles for no reason. It must be made illegal to park broken down on the road.

  14. While the driver bears most of the blame for driving recklessly, the school authorities share the blame for allowing the bus to drive at night. Visibility is reduced while driving at night. I went to this school decades ago. Condolences to the families affected. Set some rules that will protect lives on our roads. Too many accidents. No overtaking, no speeding, no driving at night improve our emergency system responses. etc

  15. If you look carefully on right side of the photo, there is a white truck which is parked on the road. That is the truck which caused the accident and it is on the blow of the hill. It should not have been packed there because the driver can not see it early enough to stop. Please remove those broken down trucks out of the roads if you want people to stop dying from such collisions.

  16. This driver should have his license suspended for good. And he must be charged with six counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder. Coz the way it looks,this driver was drunk. And the school authority must resign on moral grounds for allowing a school bus to travel very late.

  17. I do not agree about charging the driver because of the death of people. Can you see where the truck that caused an accident is parked? The writer of an article did not take into consideration where the accident happened and some of the policemen we have are just dull. The obstruction is there on the road and then you just concentrate on blaming the driver alone. You may send one person to prison but as long as you continue allowing such trucks at dangerous points more will follow to die on our roads.

    • How can you not slow down and stop if there obstruction and let oncoming traffic pass? Its not like its a train!!

  18. Bloggers bloggers please STOP and THINK, almost 90 percent of road accidents are attributed to driver error, the importance of the driver becomes very apparent. Unfortunately most motorists believe that they are the beat drivers on the road and that accidents only happen to other people. Please remember that road accidents simply do not happen by chance, they are the direct consequence of UNSAFE driving by the one or the other party involved. Until such time we as motorists realise that we are RESPONSIBLE for our own SAFETY. PSV drivers trained in defensive driving are able to identify potential danger earlier, anticipate the probable outcome and formulate the correct avoiding action in short ability to make accurate observations, judgments and predictions.

  19. RTAs in Zambia are like the gun culture in the US except in Zambia it has nothing to do with a law but everything to do with incompetence. Drivers are largely illiterate, law enforcement trivial (triangle and sticker checking is key for them). Zambia has continued calling maintenance work of resurfacing of roads ‘development’ when in fact we could have – with the bitumen we have wasted over the decades – widened our roads, split them into carriageways and improved on banking of some spots instead of putting up little signs with black dots aka black spots.

    • Go to Botswana and behold the Francis Town to Gaborone road infrastructure development. Ask them what they have done to pull off that. It is not rocket science; they have put their road users’ safety first. In our country we think prayers at a black spot will address our incompetence and lack of moving from a point of weakness to a point that delights and ensures the safety of our people.

  20. The distance between Livingstone and Monze is too short for a vehicle transporting pupils to find itself moving at night between the two towns. The school management need to be taken to task for this irresponsible behavior of allowing late night driving. What necessitated that???????

  21. What a sad development! I appeal to the government to do anything possible to prevent further accidents of this nature. They know what to do. They just have to act. May the Almighty God be with the families of the victims.

  22. Comment: You blame Mr president, mr Soko, the minister and the headmaster are they the ones that bought beer for the driver? Do you know the time the bus started off to Choma.. Jumping to conclude Sshaah!!!!!

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