A decomposing body of a man was found floating in a Harare City
Council valve chamber in Sunningdale, raising fear among residents of
the suburbs, which get its water from Letombo reservoirs that they could
have consumed contaminated water, especially in the wake of the cholera
outbreak.
The city was, however, quick to point out that there was no way that
any contamination could have taken place in the valve chamber, which
measures five-by- three metres.
The city’s corporate communications manager Mr Michael Chideme said:
“A body of an adult was found in the sewer chambers. Children playing
close to the chambers discovered the body and alerted their elders who
then made a police report, resulting in a joint operation between police
and council to retrieve the body.
“Investigations to establish what happened are underway. The body was not in contact with piped water.”
A decomposing body of a man was found floating in a Harare City
Council valve chamber in Sunningdale, raising fear among residents of
the suburbs, which get its water from Letombo reservoirs that they could
have consumed contaminated water, especially in the wake of the cholera
outbreak.
The city was, however, quick to point out that there was no way that
any contamination could have taken place in the valve chamber, which
measures five-by- three metres.
The city’s corporate communications manager Mr Michael Chideme said:
“A body of an adult was found in the sewer chambers. Children playing
close to the chambers discovered the body and alerted their elders who
then made a police report, resulting in a joint operation between police
and council to retrieve the body.
“Investigations to establish what happened are underway. The body was not in contact with piped water.”
Some of the areas which are supplied by Letombo reservoirs include
Greendale, Msasa Park, Mabvuku, Zimre Park, Epworth and Donnybrook among
others. Ward 10 councillor (Sunningdale), Hammy Madzingira said the
decomposing body was discovered on Tuesday, but was retrieved on
Wednesday.
“Detectives from CID Homicide were alerted and since it was already
in the evening, they instructed that the body be retrieved the following
day so that they could study the scene. The following day the body was
retrieved by a council excavator.”
Clr Madzingira also emphasised that the body was not in council water
because the high pressure pumps could have pushed it further to the
Letombo reservoir.
Meanwhile, the city’s acting health director Dr Clemence Duri said
cases of suspected cholera continued to decline in Harare following
massive interventions put in place by the city, Government and their
partners.
Dr Duri said by end of day yesterday, the number of deaths remained at 38. “Cases are also going down. Yesterday, 24 people were seen at Glen
View cholera treatment camp, 77 in Budiriro and 67 at Beatrice Road
Infectious Disease Hospital. These figures are much lower than we used
to see in recent days,” said Dr Duri.
The national death toll stands at 49. As of yesterday, a total of 9 831 cases had been recorded since the first case of cholera was confirmed on September 6.
Glen View and Budiriro remain the epicentre. Herald
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