Local News

Road carnage claims 18 in Rukwa

MORE  than 18 people  are feared dead  as 22 others  have been seriously   injured  after  a   lorry  they were  travelling in  veered  off  the road and overturned  at Ntalamila  village in Nkasi District, in Rukwa  region  along  the Ntuchi–Sumbawanga road.

Rukwa Regional Police Commander (RPC), Mr Jacob Mwaruanda confirmed the accident that involved the lorry–Fuso-with registration number T407 KST.     The Nkasi District Commissioner, Mr Idd Kimanta  told this paper over  the phone  from the scene of  accident  that  it  occurred  on Friday at around 8:30 a.m  at Ntalamila  village   when  the  lorry  was heading to Sumbawanga town  from Ntuchi village.

According  to DC,  the 30  seriously injured  people  were  rushed to the Regional Hospital  in Sumbawanga  town  for  treatment. One of the victims, a woman, whose name could not be identified immediately died as she was being rushed to hospital. Three others were reported to be in critical condition.

DC Kimanta described it as one of the horrible road carnages he had ever witnessed. “I rushed to the  scene of  accident shortly  after it happened  and  witnessed  six people, among  them  three  children,  lying dead  on  the spot  as one  more  died  while  she was rushed in  my  car  to  regional  hospital,” the DC said.

The DC further said  that  the  driver  of  the  lorry  Fuso  who is also the  proprietor, George Kawiti, a  resident  from Ntuchi  village  fled  after  the accident.
  Eye witnesses from  the  scene of   accident  said  most of  the passengers  in the ill-fated  lorry  were  families  of pastoralists  who  were  shifting  to  other places  in the  region.  According to the sources,  the  vehicle  was  loaded  with  maize bags, a  number of  chicken, several other agricultural  inputs including  ploughs  and   hoes.

Speaking  at Regional  Hospital  in Sumbawanga, the Medical Officer  in Charge of  the facility, Dr Gasper Ndwasinde,  said  about  15 people  died  on  the spot  while  35  others sustained serious  wounds  and  have  been  admitted. He described the condition of most passengers as critical.   Hospital authorities said that neither the deceased nor the wounded patients have been identified by their relatives.

Dr Ndwasinde cautioned  that   the  death  toll  might  increase  in number  as  medical  personnel  were  busy  receiving  more   victims  of  the road accident.

Other  sources  hinted that  more  than 18 people have died  on  that road  accident, six among  them  died on  the spot.

The 'Daily News on Saturday'  arrived  at the  hospital  and   visited  several wards  in which  the  victims have  been  admitted  and witnesses  most of  them  in critical  condition, others with peeled off  skin  on their faces and heads  and  others  have  their limbs and ribs  broken.

However, eye witnesses  told this paper that  the  Fuso lorry was  at high  speed  that  the  driver  lost  control and  veered off  the  road  and  overturned  several times  near  the banks  of River Kasi at Ntalamila  village in  the  district.