FIVE members of the same family have died in a Road Traffic Accident (RTA) along the Solwezi-Chingola road.
David Bwatya 36, a pastor at Anointing Jesus ministries, his wife Doris Mwewa 31 and their one- year- old son Angel Bwatya died after the vehicle he was driving collided with an oncoming vehicle on Wednesday afternoon.
Others are Mable Chanda 56 and Joyce Mwewa 28, who are Mr Bwatya’s mother -in -law and sister -in -law respectively.
The family was travelling from Solwezi to Mansa to attend a funeral when they met their fate near Kabitaka area along the Solwezi-Chingola road.
Mr Bwatya, his mother-in- law and his son died on the spot while his wife and her sister died upon arrival at Solwezi General Hospital.
North -Western province deputy commissioner of police Michael Nkaka confirmed the accident which happened around 16:45hrs on Wednesday.
Mr Nkaka said the accident happened when the driver of the Benz Truck registration number ACK 3616 travelling from Chingola to Solwezi lost control and hit into the Toyota Raum which the family was travelling in.
The Toyota Raum vehicle was extensively damaged on the driver’s side.
Mr Nkaka said a combined team of Kansanshi Mine and Solwezi Municipal Council fire fighters had a difficult time to retrieve the body of driver as found stuck in the Toyota Raum.
He said the driver of the Benz truck Chilufya Chisenga 31 has been charged for causing death by dangerous driving and was currently in police custody.
The bodies of the five are lying in the Solwezi General Hospital mortuary.
R.I.P, tragedy. i wish these roads were dual carriage ways to avoid this kind loss of lives.
Our politicians have deaf ears. We have being singing that song for a long time. Interested in filling their pockets only like the auctioning of the Low Zambezi for mining. Also have you heard anything on the Lusaka – Ndola road?
In the UK, the Queen never travels with Prince Charles, who himself never ever travels with his son William.
Because of a tragedy affecting the whole family.
My heart goes to the whole family, MTSRIP
Thanks
Criminal negligence by PF!
This should have been the first road to be attended to in view of the economic importance of this road. This would have been the biggest revenue earner from tolling!
The next disaster in waiting is Ndola Airport! No emergency services and yet operating as an “International” Airport? Imagine how many lives at risk?
In case you did not get the full story, a Solwezi-bound plane was denied emergency landing a few minutes from this Airport and was told to go back to Lusaka. How do you allow a smoke-filled plane to be in the air for another hour to Lusaka? It clearly shows we don’t have an Air Traffic Management System. Seems we are waiting for a disaster to get us to do things right! What a country?
Iyeeee mwebantu, this is very sad indeed. M.T.S.R.I.E.P. Indeed these main highways should be made into dual cariage ways or atleast should be made wide enough. Chabipa mwe.
Sure, have you driven on the Livingstone – Zimba road, the road is classic but it is very narrow in Width such that in some instance you have to dodge to prevent your side mirror of the truck from hitting that of the other truck from the opposite direction.
Dis is our crying to our goverment.dis road is very bad.sumthing nid to b done.
Those contractors nid to improve thy working culture.
You buy from choncholi, you get choncholi quality!!
I personally saw the wreckage though I did not witness the tragic accident. It was caused by the bad state of the road and neither the truck driver nor the deceased could be blamed here.
Last week another accident happened just 200 meters away from the same spot where the 5 died, that time it was a fan cargo which flew and overturned, fortunately the guy was saved by the grace of God.
The road is so narrow and has no showders and moreover, it has been eaten in some places. it now takes you 3 to 4 hrs on 165 km to reach solwezi. Govt should be blamed for the loss of lives on this road. They have drawn attention to work on the ndola kitwe road which was already ok. Twapapata poseniko amano before we lose some more lives.
REST IN PEACE
these roads are bad. the problem is sata, who chooses to do roads in muchinga where he comes from where 6hrs passes before 1 vehicle passes instead of making busy economic roads like kitwe/chingola road, chinghola/solwezi road. first time to have encountered a primitive leader who is so selfish and deceitful
Eish, mwamweba, mwamu uza, mwamwaambila!
I only cry with the family, for the pain is too much to bear. From out side we can cry and forget about it. But if you have come face to face with such you will feel for this family. may Jehovah who can never lie be with this family. Lord Jesus please come we are tired of losing our loved ones like this, we cant rule ourselves as humans we have felled. Please forgive us and save us from die.
True, very true. Imagine how it pains to lose 1 loved one, but 5 at one time. Its really painful indeed.
Very sad indeed. May their souls rest in everlasting peace!
This makes VERY SAD reading.
Guys, lets try as much as possible to be careful out there, and drive defensively all the time…
I almost went head on with a truck when the truck driver foolishly decided to overtake at a curve….! I braked immediately and thought in split seconds that should the truck reach a certain radius within me, il take my chances in the bush, fortunately the truck managed to get back in its lane…We have too many impatient and careless drivers on the road….
Can we have a situation in future where an area MP, Minister of Roads and maybe even the president unswerable in court for some of these deaths unlike sacrificing the poor truck driver who might have had no option given the state of the road? May God comfort the families and Church affected.
….speechless, Please RIP. Only God knows why. The pain you have left to your family and friends will be too much to handle. Not your fault at all.
Sad story indeed. I fail to understand why GRZ is content with the Welensky road networks and forging ahead to have dual highways between cities or towns. Most of these fatalities are a result of head-0n collisions and the solution to reduce them is to go dual.
Lives could have been saved had the road been repaired…….may their souls rest in peace…….
My advise to those who keep blaming the government for the bad state of this road is,before you blame the government ask the Road Development Agency what their plan for tjis road is.I know that it takes a long time for procurement of road contracts.The processes involves a lot of things including finding a consultant to design the road,prepare tender documents then appoint a contractor to do the works.This takes a long time in order to ensure that the road works are acceptable and that the road carries the expected traffic volumes.Its not like going to the market to buy tomatoes.Pls dont talk without getting the necesary information from the RDA Engineers.Ignorance is dangerous!!Mulushi also knows nothing about procurement of road contracts and he walked from Solwezi to Chingola,shame!
TOO BAD. ME I ALWAYS CONDEMN THE LATE FREDRICK CHILUBA BECAUSE DURING HIS 10 YEARS AS A PRESIDENT HE DID NOTHING ON ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE .IAM SURE IF HE DID SOMETHING ON OUR ROADS THIS TIME WE SHOULD HAVE A DUAL CARRIAGE WAY FROM SOLWEZI TO LUSAKA. THAT BOY CALLED CHILUBA IAM SURE IS IN HELL BY NOW.THE BOY WAS BUSY EATING REGINA MWANZA AND YET HE WENT AND ANNOUNCE THAT ZAMBIA IS A CHRISTIAN NATION.THE LITTLE DEVELOPMENT WE ARE ABLE TO SEE IN THE MMD GOVERNMENT IT WAS BECAUSE OF GOOD LEADER SHIP OF THE LATE MR MWANAWASA SC.MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE.
The road is very bad at this spot i passed through the accident scene just a few minutes after it happened, the road is narrow
What a pain! Let something happen to our roads please, I also lost my grand child in similar sucms. Please, please, please stop everything you are doing put all the concentration on our roads we beg you if you are a caring government. MTSRIP.
The area where the fatal accident occured is a very narrow/bottleneck road. Surprisingly, truck drivers are always on the middle of the road and they dont give way to the cars. Talking from experience for the last 6 years i have been driving on this road. Worse more at night, these trucks especially zalawi and tanzanian trucks have no respect for other road users.Thanks to BHL drivers, may God bless you for your great discipline on the road. Our police and RATSA officers are always on the check point and they do not patrol the highway at all. Only see this car written on it highway patrol parked at best ways in town of solwezi at all the time. The traffic officers`vehicle is only seen being driven when there is an emergency or some senior official is coming to solwezi.
May Thier Souls Rest In Intenal Peace….a very sad moment and a big blow to the family may the Lord take care of the family during this time…AMEN
TRAFFIC OFFICERS IN SOLWEZI NI BAFIKALA
They died on Solwezi-Chingola road NOT along Solwezi-Chingola road. (With due respect for the late please).
Driving especially on bad roads also requires a lot of discipline from all drivers!
Some want to take alcohol or drugs for every long journey and it is this habit that has contributed to so many deaths! The first thing to suffer is judgement. Reckless decisions are made.
Also never quarrel or ignore your wife’s advice before starting any journey! Plan together and start off in a good state of mind! I learnt at the funeral house that the couple had quarrelled before starting off. The wife insisted they start off the following morning but the man took this to mean the wife always does not care about the husband’s relatives funerals. He insisted on starting off late that afternoon, knowing very well he was tired from the day’s work!
Never ignore the whispering Angels!
I have always said sata want to punish people of NWP, this road is not for people of NWP alone . What a cruel leader with so much hatred.