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THIRTY-Nine passengers travelling on a Nsumi Luxury coach from Johannesburg escaped unhurt when the bus caught fire in Luansobe area in Mpongwe, on the Ndola-Kabwe Road yesterday.
Goods worth thousands of kwacha were burnt in the incident.
Manasseh Phiri, who was driving the bus, said survivors and on-lookers watched helplessly as the bus went up in flames by Press time.
Mr Phiri said the fire was started by an electrical fault from the engine after a blast around 03:00 hours.
“I wept after seeing the state of the fire because there were a lot of people on the bus, but thank God everyone managed to come out without any injuries,” he said.
He said passengers lost their luggage and accessories like cell phones, lap tops and that only a few items that was packed in a luggage trailer was served by alert villagers who rushed to rescue the passengers.
Meanwhile, a 46-year-old woman died with her daughter when they were trying to cross the road in Ndola’s Kawama area while two other people sustained injuries.
The two who have been identified as Idah Chibwe and the daughter Gladys Chibwe died on the spot.
NCH public relatiosn officer Sheona Chalimbana said bodies of the deceased were lying at the hospital mortuary while the injured Teba Mweemba and Jonatha Mwila were receiving treatment at the hospital.
And a Livingstone-based couple died in Kabwe while four people including a child sustained injuries after he attempted to overtake three motor vehicles in the process hitting a Volvo truck which was parked off side road.
Deputy Central Province police chief Edwin Bwanga who confirmed the development yesterday said the accident happened around 05:00 hours and identified the driver of Toyota Splinter registration number AJC 4874 Frazar Chola and his wife Theresa who died on the spot.
Mr Bwanga said the deceased had three passengers on board and that the accident happened when Chola was overtaking the third vehicle near prospect police station.
He said among the injured included three males and a five-year-old boy admitted at Kabwe general and Mine hospitals respectively.
In another incident, a 30-year-old man died after he hit into a moving truck when he over sped killing him instantly.
Mr Bwanga identified the deceased as Joseph Phiri who was driving a Toyota corolla registration number ALP 9771 whose body is lying in Kabwe General Hospital mortuary.
Times of Zambia
