Thirty four people have died in fatal road accident on the Great East road near Nyimba district.
The accident happened Wednesday morning around 07:40 hours when a bus collided head-on with a truck 18 kilometers away from Nyimba.
Police Spokesperson Ndandula Siamana has told ZNBC News that two people, a truck driver and a passenger have been burnt to ashes.
She says the accident happened at a place called Mchimadzi.
Ms Siamana says that a driver of the bus has been identified as George Siame aged 35 of Matero Compound.
She says the bus was overloaded with 88 passengers contrary to the stipulated.
Ms Siamana says the bodies of the deceased are in Nyimba and Petauke District Hospital mortuaries.
The other passengers who have sustained injuries are also in Nyimba and Petauke District hospitals.
And Police have arrested seven more people in connection with the beating up of Muvi Television Journalists last week.
Police spokesperson Ndandula Siamana says this brings to nine the number of suspects arrested this week.
Ms. Siamana says in a statement to ZNBC in Lusaka on Wednesday that the seven suspects have been charged with aggravated robbery, attempted rape and assault, while the first two suspects were charged with assault.
On Monday 18th July, suspected MMD cadres assaulted a Muvi TV News crew that went to cover a land wrangle in Nakachenje area in Lusaka West.
ZNBC
May there soul rest in peace RASTA need to do more as the traffick police is corrupt how did an overloaded bus pass through all the road blocks?
This is very sad news. Drivers must learn to adhere to the traffic regulations. There are reasons why a vehicle can carry only so many or so much. Exceeding the limit makes it difficult for the driver to control the vehicle. Please lets observe these rules. Most of these fatal accidents can be reduced.
May the souls of those who lost their lives rest in eternal peace. We mourn with the affected families.
So sad!
This is 2 much. …everyday road acccidents are claiming lives in Zambia. My heart really bleeds. There is no political will to rectify this. No one is taking action to find the causes or to prevent repeated occurences. Recently we read about the chifubu accident, southern provice and now this. ….mwe buteko, twapapata do something twalapwa!!!!!
This is very tragic – all buses must be fitted with speed sychronisers, by law, which limit their speed. No buse should be allowed to go more than 120km per hour. Some of those buses do 180km per hour, other as much as 200km per hour! On land, the police should restore land illegally grabbed by William Banda and his MMD unemployed cadres at Nakachenje (Lusaka West) and Kalale (Ibex Hill). This land is on title and belongs to people, so why is William Banda being allowed to grab it?
my heart goes to the bereaved families.because of the stupidity of a 36year old bastard,26lives have been lost. may he also tragically die
This is so sad, and its so sad bcoz i have lost a relative in this same accident. She has died with her baby, and she just recently got married
sincere condolences
Condolences.
Very sad news indeed!!! MTSRIP
Any loss of life is tragic families have lost parents, children, uncles and aunties. My heart goes out to each and every individual directly or indirectly affected by this tragedy. May the gracious almighty God provide you with enough strength to face these difficult time, you are in our every thought and prayer.
the bus driver was trying to overtake at a curve.it is really sad. the news we are getting is that only 14 pipo have survived
This is terrible news, its extremely sorrowful to lose someone so suddenly having experienced it myself. Deepest condolences to all those that have lost their loved ones. Unfortunately, as long as Defensive Driving is not mandatory for all Haulage and Public Service Vehicles’ drivers, this sad news will only be one of the many that have come before and to come after. MTSRIP.
Sad indeed and my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. I know that some of the deceased were bread winners. Its another wake up call to tighten road safety regulations. Our roads are not safe at all. We need to have a working government that will fix these hazards and not a sleepish RB led cabinet that we have at the moment.
Ndandula you never stop move my heart and blood. Awe mwe ulimusuma chikashana. My kisses and hugs to you.
#13 – Totally agree with you. She is a cutie!! Anyone know if she is married? Also, why cant Dora look like her??
Sad news about the fatal accident. Good policies are needed and should be inforced!
we should start thinking of more dual roads to minimise accidents.we need independent lanes for trucks and other slow vehicles
How sad. May the good Lord Jehova God Almighty give strength to the bereaved familiez and friendz.
Did the overloading of the bus the cause of the head on collision? I expected the police to give information on how the head on collison happened.Â
This report from the Police about the bus accident is very shallow and annoying! Which bus was involved? Which carrier was it? Were was it coming from? How many survived? Was really 88 overloading – we can only know is if the carrying capacity of the bus is mentioned. I know the police just parrot news which is written by news providers like ZNBC but this is a clear case of lazy reporting. How can the community identify with the fatalities if such pertinent information is not provided. Ba ZNBC even if you are a propaganda oriented media institution please pull up your socks. You seem only to be serious when quoting shady characters like Lifwekelo. How do you wire such incomplete news items for the police to parrot? May the Souls of the People who perished rest in Ertenal peace.
I fully do agree with you KANT KUBEBA about our Police reporting.First ,it always comes in late,and many many,it comes after this chi ZNBC has parroted,thats when our police officers re-parrot it again.It is very very annoying to aget a very mixed report.
When are going to start the news with full of truth,i mean right information???.
#17 you are right the reporting is not up to date,the last time i was in nyimba the road was bad to petauke has it been done?its so sad for the entire nation to lose such a number of citizens.they ve been patching the road using cheap labour by sabble transport.mtsrip
Kant Kubeba, the bus is Marcopolo, fleet is COBS(Zambia -Malawi and it was coming from Chipata to Lusaka. The capacity of the bus is 70 passangers -all seated.The nunber of those that have perished has risen to 45- expected to rise even further by the end of the day today. The figure of 45 is conservative!
Tindi, you say 45 dead and the report on ZNBc say 35. Which is which? MTSRIP
Oh no! These Bus carriers must start being held accountable for all the lives lost they have caused. Every year the number of victims is too high. Do we not value human life anymore. Accidents happen yes but the number of fatalities can be reduced. MTSRIP and may God be with their families.
As passengers we put our lives in the hands of careless and irresponsible drivers!! So sad indeed. The number is too big, man!
This goes to all the Bus Drivers!!!! Pliz spare our lives by driving at a moderate speed. The buses from that company are known for over speeding and overloading…..Damn you Bus Drivers…..am in Nyimba and knw wht goes on with Buses in the Morning..thez high competition ;)
May God almighty comfort the bereaved families.My condolences to them all.IT’S SAD INDEED.
May govt probe this from surving passengers for they were first hand eye witnesses.May govt ban
tugiligili  and  regulate cashing for bus operators may be they demand too much from there drivers.
may their souls rest in peace
Never will I climb Kobs Coach Services, first their crew is comprises of a nasty gang of *****s, then their buses are wrecks. I aslo blame the government through the RDA has to mend those trenches on the road. Last month, I hit into the pothole along the same stretch, the road is very….very bad. We pay taxes not for buying food for Namulambe kuti azishula viphwisi vonunkha yayi, those monies are for bettering our roads.
Am sorry to our beloved people who have been caught up this traged.
#15 Youth,
I agree with you but the main problem with most bus drivers and lorry drivers is lack of discipline. We may have the best roads but as long as drivers remain irresponsible the carnage will continue. It has been said that public transport crews are put on pressure by their employers who give them targets and deadlines to raise huge amounts of money quickly. The GRZ has done nothing practical to address the problem.
Is this the last time we are reading about something like this?
Is this bus driver the last person to overload a bus?
Was the accident caused because the bus was overloaded?Â
What are we going to learn from this?Â
These are questions I expected to see. If you are not smart you will not see where I am coming from.
@#12 and #13. If my son brought me a woman like tha would in a nice way ask her to go and look again. Barring weight Dora is better looking. but then again my opinion. Â lol
hope its not RB n his mmd sacrificing these people for votes !
Ops! @13 & 14. And him. Deary me too many typos lol.
May the souls of the dead RIP
VERY SAD… Please lets help save Lives… For the DRIVERS, lets understand that we are carrying passengers and keep to the driving safety rules. For BUS OWNERS/COMPANIES, lets ensure that we employ the rightful people and ensure that breaking of these safety rules are dealt with seriously (e.g. overloading/overspeeding). For RTSA, lets ensure that PSV driving licenses are given to trained persons who understand what driving a vehicle with passengers really means. For PASSENGERS, lets not allow these bus conductors and drivers to overload us in these buses, lets also report such cases as overloading/overspeeding to relevant authorities (the problem is that as passengers we have little to say to some of  these RUDE bus conductors and drivers who happen to be incharge of these buses).
Where is the police and RTC patrol cars.Plaese it is a matter of RTC and police coverying every 5 km distance in partrol cover
I think i think we as passengers need to step up and take some control over our own safety when we get onto this buses. if we see a bus being overloaded or some safety restricting infringement being committed, the onus is on us to take action which can even include a citizens arrest for the offending driver/operator. it reminds me of one time i was in zambia when i had to get on a mini bus. soon after getting in, i found that the windows were fixed, you know, as in couldn’t be opened. i looked around and noted further that there was no emergency exit. i was unsettled. this got WORSE because even after the bus was full these people continued calling for more passengers and the final straw was when they went to drag someone who came with a fridge on a wheelbarrow
Reading thru the posted remarks makes me wonder that is why yr country is still in a mess,There are laws in yr country but there is no one to enforce them this is a failed country full of cheap scum bags from the so called educated to the illiterate villagers
This bus company should loose their business operating license
these callboys then proceeded to start loading the fridge into the minibus. and the only place for this? on the door; the only exit for this bus. i called out the driver as he was about to start  and demanded i wanted to be let out. an argument broke out but i stood my ground. i pointed out that i was not ready to be incinerated in contraption of a bus if it caught fire seeing that the all routes of escape were now inaccessible. only then did i start getting some murmurs of support from my fellow passengers. to my mind, the saddest thing about this saga was the level of docility and oblivion to hazards shown by the passengers and NOT the infringement which the bus crew tried to perpetrate. much as we blame the policemen,we should also shoulder some blame as they(police) cant be everywhere
@38 Laws of the land must be enforced by the police no one obeys the law even the President gives sugar to the villagers to win the election.This is a corrupt country
It was pure negligence on the part of the driver of the bus. Great east road has a lot of sharp corners and i understand this driver was trying to overtake at the curve. MANJE APAISA BANTHU BA KAYELE MAMBALA.
This is sad ideed. From the look of things, the govt has no solution to this problem. These drivers need to to be responsible enough, because the lives of the passengers depends entirely on how they operate the machine.MTSRIP and the injured aquick recovery. #13 & 14 I can be ur shibukombe if u want her that bad. I hv her number
And the empty heads we have for leaders will go about their business tomorrow as if its non of their business. In societies where they value human life this would be a disaster requiring proper investigations to end these unnecessary deaths. Please I don’t want to hear that God allowed it to happen because its its a lie..
:-\”:-w[-(:)>-:):(:d:”>:((\:d/:x8-|/:):o:-?:-\”**==(%):^o:@):o):|:-t%%-:)>-8-x8-}:)]=))
its so sad that we continue losing lives on Zambian roads, but lets not put all the blame on the bus or truck drivers the problem is unfunctioning MMD government which have neglected the road network.
Is this what this road is “great” for? carnage?
This needless loss of precious lives has to stop.
Do we really have a responsible govt in place that can take measures to stop these massacres on roads?
My thoughts go to the families of the perished. May God grant them peace. Lets this be a reminder to us that one day we are going to meet our maker and hence be ready by accepting Jesus Christ in our lives
i think its about time the government inconjuction with the police took a strong stance against bus drivers.my question is why and what are police checkpoints meant for?police patrol cars have become personalised ones.awe sure, are we progressing or retrogressing?worse off our roads are the worst in southern africa.my heartfelt condolences to the families that have lost their loved ones
We have always had deadly accidents just before elections. Kawambwa, kabwe & nyimba?
May their souls rest in peace. Schools are closing soon, please take note of our travelling children
Please build a dual cariageway on the Great East Road and Kitwe Solwezi Roads! Lusaka Livingstone and Nakonde Kapiri-Mposhi roads.
One way of avoiding these head on collisions is having motor ways that have an island in between. I find it hard to drive in Zambia especially at night when another vehicle’s lights are shinning on me. The roads are too narrow and trucks park carelessly on the road when they have a break down. The roads have no hard shoulders where a broken down vehicle can park, all these are potential calamities or death traps.It high time we started thinking of our safety on the roads. Very few roads if any have over taking lanes and this makes drivers to cross over to another lane of on coming vehicles thereby leading to many collisions. It is simple logic that most of our roads are poorly constructed and designed.
GRZ through the Police service should be blamed for failing to be tough with bus drivers on our roads. Bus company owners should be penalised heavily for allowing their drivers to overload and drive at high speed. Before they can be allowed to operate again, they should put in safety mechanisms to warranty their being on the roads again. The same should apply to companies and drivers of other transport vehicles. We have had enough of these accidents which can be avoided.
This is what happens in unregulated systems , all is fair game.
Very sad news. My brother in-law missed the bus by about ten minutes. The problem is with the govt too much corruption coz some of these drivers are just given driving licences in an informal manner. May their souls rest in peace.
I strongly feel proper testing/training and road safety understanding must be given especially to PSV drivers before issuing them with these PSV licenses. They should also go refresher courses every after a considerable period of time. As long as these Drivers dont understand the need to abide to these road safety measures individually, they will continue to break the law and cause similar accidents. They will always find alternatives as they approach road blocks and break the law again as long as there is no one to monitor them. As much as it is important to have road blocks, lets also teach our drivers to understand the dangers of overspeeding and overloading. It’s unfortunate that when a tragedy like this one happens, that’s when we begin to see the need for addressing such issues…
There is a reason why a 76 seater bus should not carry 88 passengers or a 2 seater motor cycle carry 4 passengers. This has to do with the weight, the balancing, the breaking system, etc of the vehicle. It may become difficult to control and operate an overloaded vehicle even when it is not overspeeding. Sometimes it may not only be overspeeding but also other matters that all drivers need to understand. There are very dangerous and deadly bendings especially on that stretch between luangwa and Nyimba and some drivers usually cut the lanes (i mean driving at the middle of the road) to negotiate the curves…
so whom are we blaming the Zambian Traffic or Malawi because that was overloading, may my uncle H.S.L.I.P
Its really sad news for the nation, my condolences to the late bismarks family, MTN area sale representative and all the families who have lost thier beloved ones
The SAD TRUTH is that MMD has failed to run the road sector effectively resulting in BAD roads everywhere you go. The stretch in question was suppose to have bigger lanes and properly land scapped. This is why all drivers were getting on the white line to ensure their safety. Alas it was the opposite. Pls get MMD out and let PF do a better job on road sector. Its true that the money from road taxes and fees end up in wrong hands thus leaving us with so bad roads that we are now having so many deaths UNNECESSARILY. LET ALL ROAD MONEY GO BACK TO THE ROADS. We are heavily taxed 1. Road Tax,2. ERB TAX 3.Excise TAX 4.Carbon Tax, 5.VAT,6.Energy reserve tax and as such we DESERVE BETTER roads. Please tell RB that due to his failures KUYA BEBELEE
let drivers put much effort on their work
May their souls rest in peace…and may the survivors have enough courage to pass through the devastating circumstance…