A 20-year-old man has been crushed to death by a Zambia Railways goods train in Kapiri Mposhi District.
The deceased was hit and run over by the train coming from South to North near the Zambia Railways station as he was walking on the railway line slippers.
Kapiri Mposhi District Commissioner, Smart Mwila and impeccable police sources have confirmed the incident to ZANIS which happened around 08:00 today.
Mr Mwila said the deceased could not hear the honking from the approaching train moving from the train as he was wearing headphones listening to music whilst walking on the railway line slippers.
The train, Locomotive Number 34251 was being operated by Mambwe Binwell, 52, of Chowa Compound in Kabwe.
The DC has identified the deceased as Collins Muma of Material Compound in Kapiri Mposhi District who sustained fatal body injuries and died on the spot.
“This man was walking on the railway line while wearing headphones listening to music and could not hear the train coming and was hit and run over by the locomotive which was within reach and had right of way,” Mr Mwila said.
The body of the deceased has been deposited in Kapiri Mposhi Urban Clinic Mortuary.
Mr Mwila has since advised members of the public to stop trespassing into the railway line to avoid accidents.
He has urged members of the public to utilise designated railway line crossing points for pedestrians to avoid accidents.
And Mr Mwila has bemoaned the growing trend by young people in the district listening to music via headphones even in busy public places.
“This behaviour from our young people is a source of concern, you find that even when they are crossing the road they are listening to loud music from their headphones”, Mr Mwila said.
Don’t show his remains as you usually do.
…’sleepers’…not…’slippers’… Ba LT, which schools?
RIP. Very unfortunate event. Makes you realise how short life is. Ensure that you repent before it’s too late. I am now born again myself and it is my duty to spread the word of the lord.
Very sad.
Indeed death arrives unannounced hence the need to walk with Christ all the days of our lives.
Sorry to say but our youths need to pay more attention. The havoc this avoidable death has caused his family is untold and unnecessary.
These kids think they know it all. I mean who walks on a rail track with headphones on?
I pray other youths can take note of this.
Rest in peace young man.
Sad development from Kapiri Mposhi… When death has come for you it’s had to pay attention to things that seem irrelevant.. may his soul rest in eternal peace ?
This is sad… May God comfort the family…
I mean sad story and my condolences to the deceased family, but the problem is that there is a mentality that we wait for this accidents to happen that’s when we do something about it even if we knew the danger of it, it’s not good enough we have to be vigilant when it comes to health and safety all these accidents should be avoidable. Again this all as to do with management credibility, We don’t just acknowledge it. most of the management don’t like to improve things in their working environment.
My question to authorities is: Do we have Sign Posts erected to show that crossing of rail tracks is not permitted? If not then there is your answer!! There’s some sort of negligence from the transport ministers office. Imagine if that was a hearing impaired person the circumstances could have been the same. On the other hand, listening to music while walking especially on the streets can be fatal if it is too loud. People need to exercise caution on the road. I remember seeing drivers in Lusaka wearing headsets in both ears and listening to music, how safe is that???
Communication stakeholders this is ripe time to criminalize use of headphones anyhow.GIVE POLICY GUIDELINE !
The global has been enslaved with this technology of mobile phones. It is not only him but globally it is nonsense to where hear phone even when you are eating on the table , puking in the toilet, driving, in a public transport. MHSRP
Wearing of head phones is like fashion to our young generation. I have a very similar situation with my kids who I find sleeping with head phones full blast such that they fail to pay attentions even to alarms. There is need to sensitize our youth otherwise we will keep on losing lives.