Health Minister, Hon. Joseph Kasonde visits accident victims

Health Minister, Joseph Kasonde has visited victims of the fatal accident that claimed over 50 people in Chibombo district of Central Province, yesterday.

The Minister who called Central Province Minister, Phillip Kosamu at his office later proceeded to Kabwe General Hospital where he met the survivors of the remarkable accident and sought for information on their condition.

Acting hospital representative, Dr Sylvester Kasonde confirmed to the Minister that 47 bodies were brought in dead while two survivors were admitted around 21:00hours yesterday.

“16 bodies were identified and collected by relatives while 31 are still in the mortuary and we therefore expect an increase in collection of the bodies by relatives,” said Dr Kasonde.

He explained that among the deceased, 22 were male adults, 22 female adults and one boy and two girls.

The Medical Superintendent further said two male adults were admitted and one with fractured leg was referred to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) and his condition was quite stable.

The Health Minister Dr Kasonde hailed the medical personnel for attending to the victims stating that they competently dealt with the casualties and urged them to continue.

Meanwhile, Central Province Minister Phillip Kosamu described the accident as unfortunate and called on Road Traffic and Safety Agency (RATSA) to ensure that there are no reoccurrences of such tragedies.

And, among the entourage was Chief Kanyesha of Luano district who expressed grief and urged government through relevant ministries to consider construction of a dual carriage way as one of the deterring measures for such incidents.