Road Accident Leaves 35 SDA Youths Injured

A two tonne with registration number TO 4826 has left 35 youths injured after it lost control and overturned at Gymkhana club in Zomba on Monday.

One eye witness Memory Macdonald who was selling groundnuts at around lunch hour when the incident happened, said the driver of the said car failed to control it upon reaching Gymkhana football ground hence the accident.

The two tonne Toyota Dyna had carried youths who were coming from youth retreat camped at Sun Bird Ku Chawe Inn.

It has since been reported that 5 of the youths have sustained serious injuries while the rest have been affected with minor injuries and they have been admitted at Zomba Central Hospital.
Zomba police Station traffic officer Superintendent Symon Kachepa said they received a report that the vehicle overturned when the driver failed to control the vehicle due to brake failure.

“The motor vehicle was being driven from Ku Chawe towards Zomba town and on arrival at State House, the driver lost control and it plunge into a drain and due to the impact, 35 passengers have been injured and taken to Zomba Central Hospital for treatment,” he said.

Kachepa said most of the passengers started jumping out of the vehicle before it overturned which resulted in the majority of them being injured.

“It was reported that some passengers started jumping out of the vehicle before it overturned which we believe made many of them get injured in the process,” he said.

The Station Officer said some have broken body parts whose number they said was yet to be established together with the total number of those who were seriously injured since it might increase.

An Ambulance from the Zomba District office together with other private vehicles assisted in ferrying casualties to Zomba Central Hospital.

The vehicle was being driven by Geoffrey Sande aged 25 of Mpakati Village, Traditional Authority Chikowi in the district.

Police said investigations are underway to establish the real cause of the accident.