At approximately 16:00 hours yesterday, the serene stretch of the Great North Road was disrupted by a devastating collision, resulting in significant loss of life and property. The Serenje Traffic Department swiftly responded to the scene at Pilyeshi area, situated 25 kilometers west of Serenje town.
The collision involved two heavy-duty vehicles, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. The primary vehicles involved were identified as a tanker truck owned by Harvest Oil Company and a Howo truck and trailer operated by Dangote. The incident unfolded as follows:
The Harvest Oil Company Tanker Truck, laden with an unspecified type of fuel, was headed from east to west along the Great North Road. For reasons yet to be determined, the tanker lost control, veered off its course, and overturned, subsequently erupting into flames. Tragically, the driver, whose identity remains unknown due to the intensity of the fire, perished in the inferno.
The Dangote Howo Truck and Trailer traveling in the opposite direction from west to east, bearing registration number BCE 3607, was laden with cement bags destined for an undisclosed location. Behind the wheel was Mr. William Ngwira, aged 42, hailing from Chifubu Township, Ndola. The collision inflicted severe burns upon Mr. Ngwira, who is currently undergoing medical treatment at Serenje District Hospital. Among the six unidentified passengers on board, five tragically lost their lives in the ensuing blaze. The sole survivor, a male passenger, remains unconscious and critically injured.
The sequence of events leading to the collision suggests that the tanker truck lost control, potentially due to excessive speed, leading to its overturning and blocking the roadway. The subsequent collision with the Dangote truck ignited a fierce blaze, engulfing both vehicles and resulting in the loss of lives and extensive property damage.
In response to this tragic incident, the Zambia Police Service issued a stern reminder to all motorists to strictly adhere to speed limits and exercise caution on the roads to avert such catastrophic accidents in the future. The authorities extend their heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones affected by this grievous event.
The Police in Serenje have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the collision, aiming to provide closure to the affected families and implement measures to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.
This road has become a killer. There was a time this road was called HELL RUN. There were accidents but not at this rate.
Thats because you used to have two LandRovers passing each other at 90 KM/hour after every five hours,and you ask why
I wrote two weeks ago how dangerous that entire stretch of the road from Serenje to Mpika is. Now see what is happening and sadly they will not be the last until that road’s width is extended. How can DRC which has suffered multiple wars have better main highways than the Great North Road of peaceful Zambia? That road must be extended or else what is happening is the same as sending soldiers to war with blank bullets for those who travel on that road.
COPIED FROM ZO
The accident occurred on the Great North road, which is north bound. So according to the Likayi trained traffic buju, when the description is given as driving from East to West, how does he think we’ll tell whether the tanker was bringing fuel from Tanzania and the other delivering cement to either Northern or Muchinga?
Just where does the Great North road start and end? Livingstone-Ndola, Lusaka-Kapiri Mposhi, KapiriMposhi-Nakonde, or Lusaka-Ndola?
Ayatollah, I was thinking the same. if it weren’t so serious a matter, it would have made good comedy. Who’s training these kids to write kanshi? You are on a road that goes North-South but somehow you overcome the laws of nature that while you are driving north and south, you are also driving east and west. No logic. No common sense. No idea. Boggles the mind.
Reporting. Where are the Journalism schools in Zambia? Ati:
‘was headed from east to west along the Great North Road”
Another evidence again of people buying driving licenses without eve n attending driving schools. On several occasions I appealed to the government to pass a decree for all drivers to surrender or confiscate their licenses and under government co trol force them to undergo driving lessons. Fact is that 85% of driving licenses are obtained through corruption and bribes.
The problem is the roads not the driving licenses, you think a truck driver with a HGV license attain that level without passing a test? All drivers at a certain level have to pass their tests no two ways about it. The ones who don’t are your canter and taxi drivers.
Livingstone to Nakonde cum Mpulunga is great north road
Thank you.So the road from Kapiri Mposhi to the Copperbelt is called what? where will be the dual carriage high way?
No. Great North Road starts from Lusaka. So does Great East Road. Lusaka is the central part of the compass. At Kapiri Mposhi the road makes a turn to Tunduma where it ends. Proceeding to Ndola it has no official name. The road from Lusaka to Livingstone was supposed to be Great South Road.
Interesting!
Let’s face it. We have a serious road management crisis in Zambia. Forget about these finished old roads. Even new roads are being constructed so dangerously. Sometimes it’s not about speed but capacity to navigate through these narrow roads when passing a truck, kerbs which are spaced in between. Muzungu used to paint them white and black but some smart Zambian road engineer decided to leave a blank in between. I think s/he misread black for blank. Or someone wanted to steal some money and came up with this ingenious way which our ‘pot-hole generation engineer’ have made standard build.
Those spaces they leave on kerbs are dangerous and as you may have noticed, a car that crashes into these kerbs ends up severely damaged and is usually flung left off the road instead of the kerb assisting to push the car right back to the road. Even our ‘quality’ govt has fallen for these tricksters. Look at the Kerbs on the new Makishi Rd. Same dangerous spaced kerbs. This is road safety 101 stuff.
Wrong as it sounds, Great North road/T2 starts from Livingstone ally the way to Nakonde. The other direction to Ndola continues as T2 while the northern one continues as GNR
So GNR has two T2s?
The policemen on duty that allowed passengers on Dangote truck shall be suspended for breach of Road Traffic Act. Dangote and it’s driver shall be prosecuted to carry passengers in a load vehicle in breach of Road Traffic Act.
The road between Serenje and Mpika is a death trap due to the width of that road. It is clear and everyone can see that the road has been shrinking over a period of time and no measures have been taken so far. There are areas where is may be impossible for two trucks to pass each other without taking up the whole road space force the other truck to retreat in the bushes. Its high time this road was paid attention to. Most of these accidents are avoidable.
The road between Serenje and Mpika is a death trap due to the width of that road. It’s clear and everyone can see that the roadhas been shrinking over a period of time and no measures have been taken so far. There are areas where is may be impossible for two trucks to pass each other without taking up the whole road space force the other truck to retreat in the bushes. Its high time this road was paid attention to. Most of these accidents are avoidable.