Eight people have died on the spot in a road traffic accident in Kasama District of Northern Province.
And another two people have died on the spot in Luwingu District of Northern Province after their motorbike hit a vehicle.
The eight died around 19:30 hours after the vehicle they were in collided with an oncoming vehicle on Saturday.
Confirming the matter to ZANIS, Northern Province Police Commanding Officer Lucky Munkhondya said involved was a Toyota Corolla registration number AIE 6313zm, which was being driven by Festus Simbeye aged 31 of Brown Compound in Kasama District, who had seven passengers on board.
Ms Munkhondya disclosed that the vehicle hit a Toyota Hilux registration number CAC 3994zm belonging to Natsave Bank-Mporokoso Branch, which was being driven by Aaron Sampa aged 37, the bank branch manager of Mporokoso, who had five passengers on board.
Ms Munkhondya noted that the accident happened when the driver of the Toyota Corolla failed to negotiate a curve due to excessive speed, lost control, and collided with the Toyota Hilux, which was coming from the opposite direction.
She said due to the impact, all the people onboard the Toyota Corolla died on the spot.
The Commanding Officer stated that the six people who were on the Hilux survived but sustained serious injuries.
She added that both motor vehicles incurred extensive damage, and police were making arrangements to recover them from the scene.
Ms Munkhondya noted that the injured people are currently admitted to Chilubula Mission Hospital, while the bodies of the deceased have been deposited in Kasama General Hospital.
And in a related incident, two people died after their motorcycle hit a vehicle on the Kasama-Luwingu road.
Ms Muknhondya said the accident that occurred on the Luwingu-Kasama road happened after the rider failed to keep to the lane while trying to avoid a pothole.
She said this resulted in the rider, Chikwanda Mulengwa, aged approximately 30, of Luwingu, who had two passengers on the bike, died on the spot with one passenger.
She identified the deceased passenger as Mukuka Bboloko aged 20 of Luwingu.
She said the bodies of the deceased have since been deposited at Luwingu District Hospital Mortuary.
Due to the collapsed passenger transport system motorbikes and smaller vehicles have become a menace on the roads not only in outlying areas but in towns as well. RTSA doesn’t have the capacity to police vehicles and local authorities which are present everywhere and from whose stations passengers are loaded have been stripped off of the mandate. Motorbikers don’t have licenses and they load up to 4 passengers. Just check general hospitals and find out how many bike accident victims are brought in weekly. Most Noah buses on the Copperbelt, Bottom road, Down Town etc aren’t fit to carry passengers but they do and pass through the many check points overloaded. Simply put, we’ve failed to govern ourselves
The police at road blocks don’t care about the state of vehicles as long as you oil their palms. A Toyota Corolla can only accommodate five people which includes the driver. This one was carrying seven passangers. Add the driver that comes to eight people. This definitely impeded the drivers ability to manoeuvre safely.
While the Minister’s still scratching his balls that he’s banned night travel, black numbered Quantum minibuses are loading people from Heroes to Kasumbalesa the whole night. Mwami, Chikakanta, Mazabuka etc are notorious for overloaded vehicles mostly owned by police officers. The same for most local routes in all provinces
This is what maxmising the capacity of the vehicle at the expense of survival can cost.
People are living in extreme poverty whilst our leaders are living in extreme luxury…globetrotting around the world in a private jet…is there any way we can get rid of all Politicians???? Excessive speed yes causes accidents but also the roads are very bad…no road marking and its hard to negotiate corners at night
Meanwhile some minister is dribbling saliva claiming that during the PF time one had to wear a bullet proof jacket when holding rallies.
Never saw HH in bullet proof jacket.
Odd that aside from the speed there is an incidence of overloading in both instances — Corolla and motorbike. I hope the Hilux was a double-cab. We really need to foolproof our traffic laws so it protects even the clueless motorists. Instead we are busy charging people based on archaic laws that have far outlived their purpose.