44 die in August road accidents
By Henderson Msusa:
With 14 days to go before the end of August, the country has already lost 44 people to seven road accidents.
On August 1, 21 people died after a church bus they were travelling in was hit by a truck in Ntcheu District.
Immediately after, four people died on the spot at Linthipe in Dedza District.
On Thursday last week, eight people died in a road accident along the Lilongwe-Kasungu Road.
On Saturday, six people died after a minibus they were travelling in hit a moving truck near Mbulumbudzi in Chiradzulu District.
And, in the latest accident, five people died Monday while six others sustained serious injuries after a vehicle they were travelling in was involved in a road accident at Chang’ombe Trading Centre along the Lilongwe-Salima Road.
Kanengo Police Station spokesperson Esther Mkwanda said two vehicles collided, resulting in death and injuries.
“A two-tonne pick-up, registration number NS 7126, was coming from Kasungu District heading to Dowa District with 18 passengers on board. Upon arrival at Chang’ombe Trading Centre, the pick-up was involved in a head-on collision with a tipper, registration number BLK 5587.
“Following the impact, the pick-up went to the extreme offside of the road, where it overturned. Three men and two women were confirmed dead upon arrival at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Lilongwe,” she said.
Mkwanda said the pick-up had 18 passengers who were returning to Dowa after attending a funeral ceremony in Kasungu District.
She said the process of identifying the dead was under way while those who sustained injuries were being treated at KCH.
The development comes barely two weeks after the World Bank (WB) indicated in a report that cases of road accidents were on the rise in Malawi.
It cited alcohol abuse as one of the factors contributing to rising cases of road accidents in the country.
