THREE children from Bulawayo’s Entumbane suburb died while in the back of a single cab Nissan SE pickup truck that was stuck in the mud near Luveve Cemetery as their parents battled to free the vehicle.
The tragedy occurred on Saturday at around 11pm while the
family was travelling to the city from their rural home in Nyamandlovu.
Mr Algernon Aaron Moyo (63) and his wife, Thenjiwe (45),
had just collected their only children, Aquilla (10) and Thelma (6), both
pupils at Mthombowesizwe Primary School, as well as Shantel (2) in preparation
for schools opening this week.
Family members speaking at a funeral wake in Entumbane said
the death of the children was a mystery but a mechanic said the children could
have been suffocated by exhaust fumes from the car.
Mrs Moyo discovered that the children had died as Mr Moyo
went out of the car to gather small tree branches to help get the car out of a
rut.
She checked on the children at the back as it was already
dark and to her shock, the children were cold and did not show any sign of
life.
Family spokesperson Mr Noel Dube said she called her
husband and they tried to render first aid but the children were already dead. Mr
Dube said the family is still trying to come to terms with what could have
happened.
“We have lost our children under very mysterious
circumstances. Up to now we are at a loss for words as to what could have
happened to them. They died on their way home while coming from our rural home
in Nyamandlovu. The children were returning home after spending the long
holidays at the rural home due to Covid-19,” said Mr Dube.
“While their parents drove near Luveve Cemetery, the
vehicle got stuck in the muddy ground. Mr Moyo got out of the car to look for
tree branches and his wife decided to check on the children who were sleeping
at the back of the pickup. She discovered that the eldest was lying in an
awkward position. This worried her and she alerted her husband.”
He said it was not their first time for the family to
travel with the children at the back of the car. Another relative Ms Sindiswe
Bhajila said there is no explanation that could console the family.
“Siphelelwe asikuzwisisi ukuthi kwenzakeleni, simadolo
nzima. (we are shocked, we don’t understand what happened, we are at a loss for
words) we are told that Thelma was frothing from the mouth. So that really
makes it more complicated for us to understand what happened,” said Ms Bhajila.
Their neighbour at Redbank in Nyamandlovu, Mr Bigboy
Sibanda, said they were heartbroken to learn of the tragic loss.
“I know these children very well. It is sad losing a kid
and losing three of them at one go is terrible,” he said. A post-mortem to
establish what happened was supposed to have been conducted yesterday.
Acting Bulawayo police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Nomalanga Msebele said police were investigating the matter as a sudden death. A mechanic, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said while the post-mortem will determine how the children died, they could have suffocated.
“If the exhaust pipe of the truck was not extended so that
it protrudes at the back from under the truck, its fumes were getting inside
the car.
“So, what could have happened is that when the car got
stuck in the mud, the driver could have revved the car trying to get it out and
by doing so it emitted a lot of smoke suffocating the children, particularly if
the windows were left closed.
“This is sad we hope the post-mortem will explain what
caused their death,” said the mechanic.
The truck was taken by Luveve police who attended the scene
but later taken to UBH at the request of the pathologist who was conducting the
post-mortem. Chronicle
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