Truck driver shot dead

A ZIMBABWEAN truck driver has been shot dead on the Great North Road in Serenje.
The deceased identified as Themba Nkosi, 40, who was an employee of a South African transport company was killed on Thursday around 02:00 hours at a layby along the Great North Road, about five kilometers east of Serenje boma.
Serenje district commissioner, Charles Mwelwa, said yesterday in a telephone interview that the two bandits who were armed with a firearm approached the truck in which the deceased and his wife were, and demanded money.
“They were resting in the vehicle at a lay-by and two men with a gun knocked on the door of the vehicle demanding to be given money. As he was coming out (of the vehicle), they shot him and he died on the spot,” Mr Mwelwa said.
Mr Mwelwa said when the deceased’s wife shouted for help, the attackers ran away and later a “Good Samaritan” stopped and offered her a lift to Serenje Police Station where the matter was reported.
He said relatives of Mr Nkosi in Zimbabwe and his employers in South Africa have been informed about his death.
He said the body of the deceased is lying in Serenje District Hospital mortuary.
When contacted on the matter, Serenje district police officer-in-charge Hicks Hikalenda referred all queries to Central Province police commissioner Standwell Lungu and his deputy Edwin Bwanga whose phones went unanswered by press time.
Meanwhile, suspected thieves on Wednesday night in Serenje attacked another truck driver near Kalwa Baptist Farm on the Great North Road.
The same night, suspected thieves broke into the office of the Department of Forestry and Farm Training Centre where they stole three computers which they dropped and ran away after a security guard raised alarm.
Mr Mwelwa appealed to Serenje residents to report any suspicious-looking people to the police because they could be the ones behind crimes that have rocked the district.