FIRE on Tuesday night swept through a truck park at the Kasumbalesa border post in Chililabombwe district on the Copperbelt burning three trucks with assorted goods that were destined for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The Government through the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) says it will come up with a robust mechanism that can help avert such eventualities occurring in the district.
Both Chililabombwe District Commissioner (DC) Precious Njekwa and Mayor Lucky Sichone confirmed the development in separate interviews.
Ms Njekwa said the three trucks which included one from Zambia and the other two of foreign origin caught fire around 20:00 hours at a truck park at the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) facility.
She said two of the trucks were carrying Sulphur while the other one had 36 drums of extraction regents, both materials were being transported to the mines.
“Three trucks on Tuesday night caught fire at the Kasumbalesa border post leaving the assorted goods they were carrying to the DRC burnt during the incident, “she said.
Ms Njekwa said a team of fire fighters from the DRC, Chililabombwe Municipal Council (CMC),Chingola Municipal Council(CMC), Lubambe Copper Mines (LCM) and Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) team were dispatched to the scene of the incident to quench the fire.
She said the team managed to quench the fire around 24:00 hours adding that the delay was as a result of failure to have a stationed fire engine and officers at the border.
Ms Njekwa also explained that the cause of fire was not yet known and investigations have since been instituted.
She said her office was yet to make an official appeal to relevant authorities, especially through the central government to enable the area to have its own fire response team and equipment stationed at the border to help respond to emergencies.
“The fire was quenched quite late because we do not have an available fire tender and officers stationed at the border to respond to such emergencies and this is why we need to have such facilities here so that response is quickened,my office is yet to lobby through central government on this matter,”she said.
Mr Sichone described the situation as unfortunate and also reiterated the need to have equipment and officers stationed at the border.
Meanwhile DMMU national coordinator Gabriel Pollen who visited the scene of the incident said he was saddened with the loss incurred by the three trucks hence the need to ensure that a solution was found to minimize loss of goods , property as well as lives.
Dr Pollen said the unit was in talks with the ministry of local government, the council and other stakeholders at the border to come up with a robust comprehensive mechanism that could help avert such eventualities occurring in the district.
He said such incidents had the potential to frustrate the economic activities of the country.
“My office will ensure that we come up with a robust comprehensive mechanism in terms of standards of operating procedures when we have such emergencies because as you know such incidents have the potential to frustrate economic activities of the country, “he said.
SADC truck drivers association of Zambia secretary general Jackson Banda cautioned truck drivers against the tendency of cooking near truck parks.
Mr Banda said there was a need to ban cooking under or near trucks.
The inference I am making from this article is that other than fire, there are other forces or elements that can burn objects.
These things happen when hazardous chemicals are being carried around. Nothing sinister. Lets move on
Hahaha, styupid drivers.
Truck drivers in Gaza are smarter, they never get fired upon.
It’s not always that you require fire tenders to attend to fires. If the truck park were properly planned, there ought to be hydrants around. These trucks carry various cargo some of which is hazardous and inflammable like sulphur dioxide. Fuel tankers don’t have a designated parking space. It’s fortunate that the fire didn’t spread otherwise we could have been talking about an inferno. Please take this as a timely warning and take the necessary steps to avert future disasters.
Apart from petroleum products, sulphur and xanthates are all highly hazardous substances. Each should have its own designated area. We don’t the minister, or President to tell us this
@Paul Rao That is what happens when a democracy is not functioning. When politicians have too much power everyone stops what they are supposed to do and waits for orders from the political officials. Even those with knowhow start awaiting instructions. This because they are too scared of political ramifications. Dictatorships halt initiative and create robots. Zambia is still a tin-pot dictatorship. However I also hope this isnt an importation of the South African truck violence so prevalent south of the Limpopo.
Exactly !! Fire authority inspects all businesses and factories and this port is no different
They have to answer for this disater and heads must roll
Zambia is a failed state. Politicians, police, bureaucrats, judges, private sector and public sector everywhere corruption, lethargy, chaos is the order of the day. Top to bottom rotten.