Tuesday, March 19, 2024

There’s a body down there…..

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A rumour that a tourist had drowned at the Victoria Falls in Livingstone yesterday morning ignited some frenzied activity by security and emergency services as they rushed about looking for the body.

Information given to the emergency services was that a tourist had slipped from the edge of the falls and that the body had been spotted at the bottom of the precipice, some 108 metre down.

Officers from the Livingstone fire brigade, Department of National Parks and Wildlife, Zambia Police and medics from private hospitals all rushed to the falls to help retrieve the body.

At the falls, a crush of local residents joined other tourists on the famous Knife Edge bridge, staring down at the bottom of the waterfall, eyes locked on an object that looked like the floating body of a human being.

Efforts by the Livingstone City Council Fire Brigade to get down the gorge to get to the body were hampered by lack of appropriate equipment.
All the while, the anxiety levels were growing among the ever-swelling crowd on the narrow bridge, most of them snapping away with their mobile phone cameras at the figure in the swirling waters.

Some people, eager to satisfy their curiosity, went as far as hiring binoculars.After hours of frustratingly little progress by the emergency services to find a way down the gorge, Bundu Adventurers Water Rafting Company was approached to help.

Staff from Bundu, an outfit specialised in swimming and water rafting as well as managing bungee jumping at the Victoria Falls Bridge, went down the gorge through the ‘boiling pot’ together with officers from the fire brigade.

The anxiety among the gathered crowd was palpable as the team came back with the news that there was a body all right. A hippo’s. Dead hippo.

[Times of Zambia]

17 COMMENTS

  1. You’d think the fire brigade should have the equipment by now after being in existence since 1964. Are they not proactively managing the place knowing that there’s a possibility that a person can fall in there whether by accident or suicide. How can they not have equipment.

    • The bloody town of livingston survives on the Vic Falls. They can’t equip themselves with proper gear for such emergencies? Oh wait, it’s ECL’s fault right?

    • I AM SO IMPRESSED WITH THE WRITING/NARATION/REPORTING OF THE STORY. IT KEEPS YOU IN SUSPENSE BUT NOT BORING UNTIL AT THE END OF THE STORY IN THE LAST SENTENCE WE ARE TOLD THE CONCLUSIVE ANSWER. TRULY, THAT RESSEMBLES THE ‘LATE’ TIMES OF ZAMBIA.

    • NOW, COMING BACK TO THE STORY- I THOUGHT THE ZAMBIAN TOURISM AUTHORITIES THAT BE LEARNT A LESSON WHEN AN AUSTRALIAN GIRL ALMOST DIED WHEN THE BUNGEE JUMP WENT WRONG AND ROPE SNAPED AND SHE FELL INTO THE CROCODILE DEN. LUCKILY ENOUGH THE CROCS HAD GONE TO SEARCH FOR LUNCH ELSEWHERE- HENCE HER SURVIVAL. ONE WOULD HAVE THOUGHT A RETHINK OF THE HEALTH AND SAFETY MEASURES WERE COMPREHENSIVELY INSTITUTED AS A RESULT WHICH WOULD HAVE RAISED QUESTIONS COVERING THE ENTIRE AREA INCLUDING THE DEVIL’S ISLAND AND THE GORGE. PA ZAMBIA PALIBA MANGALO. BAKAMICHITA SUE. THE WHOLE COUNTRY WILL BE BROKE. ONCE UPON I WAS IN BARCELONA, SPAIN AND JET-SKIING ON DEEP SEAS. IT WAS AMAZING HOW SERIOUSLY THEY TAKE HEALTH AND SAFETY. TULEKOPAKO.

  2. Useless article by a useless and lazy Journalist… no wonder we cannot have Journalists who can compete at the International stage…

  3. It will cost tax payers one million US dollars for just a water raft and a bungee rope n some life jackets , so it’s better you don’t make a call to equip the fire rescue department

  4. The author of this article needs to go back to grammar school. Its one of the worst written articles i have read in a long time. He is ruining the english language.

  5. All the while, the anxiety levels were growing among the ever-swelling crowd on the narrow bridge, most of them snapping away with their mobile phone cameras at the figure in the swirling waters. WHO IS THIS FAKE REPORTER? THIS WEBSITE MUST BE CLOSED

  6. It was the body of a hippopotamus called Dorah Slitoris they found down there having been pushed off the knife Edge bridge by Mupalaba Kasai wa Katanga. Eko tuleya ku Chipata ku malilo!

  7. How many Lazy Lungu’s Fire Trucks were on scene, 2 ,3 , 1 so we value the cost of machinery on the scene 2 trucks is equal to 2 million dollars…these rats will never be forgiven for this theft I tell you!!

  8. At least we learnt something and that is, we are lacking a skilled labour forces in finding drowned or drowning people. This is what our minister and permanent secretary need to invest in. As well, an opportunity to lease new technology gadgets such as Go-Pros and drones. The Ministry of Tourism and Arts could be making money and also maybe saving lives in finding victims or efforts in retrieving bodies safely. This is what happens when they don’t have a vision and lack leadership skills. We are paying them to have the title of Minister and Permanent Secretary.

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