Heavy rain leaves family stranded

A family of seven in Luanshya’s Roan township has escaped unhurt after their house collapsed following heavy rain fall.

A check by ZANIS in Luanshya yesterday revealed that part of the wall to one of the rooms had given in to the heavy down pour forcing the house to collapse.

The owner of the house, Christine Katongo , of house number 558 section 9 attributed the collapse of her house to its old state coupled with heavy rains.

The family is now seeking temporal shelter at a near- by church  until a permanent  solution is found.

Mrs Katongo however said her house has had several extensive cracks since 2010.

  “Around 03: 00 hours this morning, I was awakened by some noise to which I detected that it was coming from the wall, the noise continued and I also noticed some dust dropping that was when I sensed danger and alerted everyone and we started evacuating the house and stayed outside until 06:00 hours when the wall finally give in ”,  Mrs Katongo narrated.

She however said no person had sustained injuries and that no property was damaged due to the early detection of the predicament.

And Luanshya District Commissioner Harold Mbaulu who visited the scene sympathized with the family describing the situation as unfortunate.

Mr. Mbaulu has since appealed to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) in the province to assess the damage and provide the necessary assistance to the family.

The DC however expressed disappointment that six other houses in the same locality had collapsed in a similar manner saying.

Mr Mbaulu said he would engage the area Member of Parliament Chishimba Kambwili on the way forward regarding the state of houses in Roan township as well as the security of the affected people.

The DC  urged Roan section 9 residents to find ways of strengthening the walls to their houses and assured the residents that government would work with the community to safeguard the lives of its citizens.

And Kafue ward 8 councilor Mutale Bukula emphasized the need for coming up with a permanent solution to the problem saying six houses have so far collapsed in a similar way since 2001.

Mr Bukula noted that the houses were made of mud bricks and coated in cement and have since exposed faulty foundations therefore needed urgent reinforcement.

He said his ward which has 1000 houses was now a death trap as all houses were built in the colonial era and were no longer suitable for habitation.