FLASHBACK: Last year’s tragic Chibombo Postbus accident scene .
By CHAMBO NG’UNI
BARELY 24 hours after Zambia commemorated the first anniversary of the horrific deaths of over 50 people in a bus accident in Chibombo, another five people died yesterday in another bus accident near the same spot.
The early morning bus accident of a Lusaka-bound bus from Mpulungu, has left 10 other passengers seriously injured.
The dead are a 6-year-old boy, two men and two women. They died on the spot. By press time, police were yet to identify some of the deceased passengers and survivors.
The accident involving a CV Transport Marcopolo bus happened between 02:00 hours and 03:00 hours, about 2kms from the spot where a Zampost bus collided with a truck and trailer last year on February 7.
Central Province police chief Standwell Lungu and hospital authorities at Kabwe General Hospital and Liteta District Hospital confirmed the road traffic accident in separate interviews yesterday.
“This fatal accident happened today (yesterday) between 02:00 hours and 03:00 hours at Mukalashi area,” Mr Lungu said. “This is about 2km from John Chinena Market. The dead bodies have been taken to Kabwe General Hospital.”
Mr Lungu said 10 survivors sustained body injuries and are admitted to Liteta District Hospital.
Mr Lungu said initial investigations show that the driver of the bus lost control of the vehicle and it overturned.
One of the survivors said at Liteta District Hospital where she is admitted that the accident happened due to over speeding by the driver of the bus.
Mrs Veronica Nampungwe, whose six-year-old son died in the accident, was travelling from Mpulungu and to Lusaka.
“The accident happened around 03:00 hours after we passed Kabwe. We told the driver to stop speeding because it had rained but, he did not listen,” Mrs Nampungwe lamented.
Mrs Nampungwe was in the company of her husband, Mr Sinyangwe and other family members and was at pains to accept the death of her son.
Liteta District Hospital acting medical superintendent Jerry Sinyangwe confirmed that 10 people were admitted to the hospital – eight women and two men.
“All of them are in stable condition. One female patient sustained soft tissue injuries,” Dr Sinyangwe who was attending to the accident victims said in an interview.
And Kabwe General Hospital medical superintendent George Chipulu said one man who sustained soft tissue injuries was discharged in the morning yesterday.
Dr Chipulu also said the five bodies are at the Kabwe General Hospital mortuary.
Last year on February 7, 51 people died in an accident involving a Zampost bus and two other vehicles.
A 74-year-old retired Mkushi farmer Abraham van Edeen is being tried by the Kabwe High Court for allegedly causing the deaths of the 51 people.
According to the police, van Edeen who was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser registration number ABH 2214 allegedly caused the fatal accident when he was overtaking the Zampost bus which then collided a truck.
Last week, Postbus announced that it is now ready to start disbursing of K1 million insured money to the victims of the accident.
“We have started communicating to the individual families of the victims to inform them of this process and the modalities it will take. We hope to complete this process by the end of February, 2014,” a Postbus statement reads.