The 8-tonne DAF truck was being driven by Josphat Kwembeva
(42) from Chiredzi town to Samu market in Chikombedzi with 12 small-scale
traders when it got stuck in the mud on Malibangwe River.
Five passengers who remained in the lorry while Kwembeva
and seven other passengers were trying to push-start the lorry, were swept away
after water levels suddenly rose.
A search party comprising the police and villagers has so
far retrieved the bodies of a male and a female adult from the river while
three others remain missing.
National police spokesperon Assistant Commissioner Paul
Nyathi yesterday said the search for those missing was still ongoing.
“We are still looking for three other passengers who were
swept away by the flooded River. We have so far retrieved bodies of two
passengers but their names are still subject to verification by the police so
we are withholding them for now,’’ said Ass Comm Nyathi.
He said on Monday around 3am Kwembeva set off for Samu
market in Chikombedzi from Chiredzi with 12 passengers on board.
Upon arrival at a narrow bridge along Malibangwe River, the
small lorry got stuck in the mud. The driver, assisted by seven passengers,
started pushing the lorry while five other passengers remained inside.Scores of
people have lost their lives countrywide since the beginning of the current
rainy season after drivers tried to cross flooded rivers and were swept away.
Herald
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