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| the late |
Chegutu town clerk, Alex Mandigo, confirmed the unfortunate
accident.
“I can confirm that one of our contract council employees
lost his life when a trench they were working on collapsed and was buried
underneath some rubbles.
” I understand they were laying some sewer pipes. Council
workers try to retrieve Lovemore Chingeni’s body. I heard that the trench was
about 1,5metres deep,” said Mandigo.
He added. ” I am on leave for the next two weeks. You can
get finer details of the incident from our chamber secretary Mr Chikuruwo,” he
said.
Council Chamber Secretary, Jacob Chikuruwo,told H-METRO
that the unfortunate accident happened on Friday morning.
” These guys were digging a sewer trench and we were
rehabilitating our sewer using an Ex Scavator.
” It was when they were removing some old asbestos pipes
and replacing them with plastic pipes, when the trench collapsed,” said
Chikuruwo.
He said that three of the workers managed to escape to
safety. ” Vatatu vakakwanisa kutiza asi, Lovemore haana kugona kubuda akabva
atsimbirirwa nevhu,” he said.
However, relatives of the deceased told H-METRO that their
family was still shell-shocked and in a state of disbelief because of the
untimely death of their brother Lovemore Chingeni.
He was 34.
The elder brother Obert Chingeni, 49, told H-METRO that the
death of his young brother was a big blow to the family.
” Tarwadziwa zvisingati norufu rwaLovemore. However, we
believe there was an element of negligence from the employer. I want to believe that council officials were
reckless in handling the issue, as they did not react timeously to the
accident,” said Obert.
He added. “Vanhu vakapinda vachida kubatsira vakadzingwa. Vakapinda
zvenharo vakasungwa nokuendwa navo kumapurisa, nyangwe havo vaive nechinangwa
chokuti mwana abudiswe.,” he said.
Obert said that the unfortunate incident happened early in
the morning when the late went to work around 8am. The trench collapsed upon
him early in the morning .
” You can imagine, his other colleagues had to rush about
2km to the engineering department to seek for help and assistance. However,
council then came about three hours later and retrieved his body..”
” As a family, we believe that council was very negligent
in not supplying their workers with safety protective clothing.”said Obert.
He said that council was footing all the funeral expenses. Council
ndiyo irikuita zvose pakuvigwa kwaLovemore,” he said.
Josamu Chingeni,33, the youngest brother in the family,
told H-METRO that he was so much devastated by the death of his brother .
” Tinonzwa kusurukirwa zvikuru nokurasikirwa kwataitwa
nomukoma wangu.
” We accept it that it was an accident. However, there are
some aspects of negligence on the side of Council. I understand these guys were
working on their own without maximum supervision.
” Surely council was very reckless with the life of our
brother. Even though , council is doing everything in terms of the funeral
expenses, these are all priceless. They
cannot bring back the life of our beloved brother.
” He was a young man with a bright future ahead of him in
life. He finished his university education at Midlands State University in
2009, ” said Josamu.
He added “He did a bachelor’s degree in Hotel and Tourism. Mabasa
haasi kuwanikwa , saka akangotiwo regai nditsvage zvinondipa pundutso kuti
akwanise kurarama.
” He was also a bread winner . A responsible father who was
taking care of our widowed mother,” said Josamu.
He said that the late Lovemore has left a deep wound that
was not going to heal. He has left us a
deep wound that will take ages to heal. Ininiwo panditori handitoshanda. Mukoma
makumbo avo atori nedambudziko.
” Saka hatisisina achatibatsira,” said Josamu. He said that
the deceased had left a pregnant wife.
” He has left a wife who is six months pregnant. Even
though , azoshaikira panzvimbo yakadaro because of the economic hardship
bedeviling the nation.” H Metro
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