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Two Lives Lost In Pontoon Accident
Two people have drowned after cables attached to a pontoon operating on the Chambeshi River snapped at the weekend.
The other seven passengers who were on board the pontoon survived the incident and managed to get to river bank alive.
The pontoon was ferring an Isuzu truck registration LLB 3479 laden with timber which was on its way to Nakonde.
Northern Province deputy police chief Milner Muyambango confirmed the accident which occurred at the Safwa crossing on the Kasama-Mbesuma Road.
He identified the missing persons as Cephas Silungwe, 25, and Mathews Sichone, 31, who where the lorry boys of the truck.
The pontoon became uncontrollable after three of the poles on which the cables where anchored snapped on the western side of the Safwa crossing point.
The duo that drowned ignored warnings from the pontoon operator to stay on the pontoon and be calm.
“They panicked and decided to take their chances in raging currents of the river. Unfortunately the current swept them away and their bodies have not been seen,” Mr Muyambango said.
The pontoon and the truck which are partially submeregd under water where swept away about 300 meters from the crossing point by the current, anchored itself on some stones with the truck still on board
A team from the Zambia National Service was on site to assess how to how the pontoon and truck could be brought safely to the river bank.
Posted by Kunda
on March 31, 2014. Filed under LATEST NEWS.
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Sage
March 31, 2014 at 9:08 am
3rd world problems tsk tsk..
mwanya
March 31, 2014 at 9:18 am
Do Zambian pontoons carry lifebouys? Safety on water must be observed by all parties – Operators and Users. Users MUST be availed Lifebouys and lifevests in order to survive such accidents.
Smitten
March 31, 2014 at 8:14 pm
Iwe lifebouy mu Zambia ni sopo
osward mwaisumo
March 31, 2014 at 4:54 pm
safety measures in zambia are taken after such fates
Chalilowa
April 1, 2014 at 4:25 pm
The body of a soldier who drowned in Zambezi river in Chavuma on sunday has been retrieved some 30 minutes ago. the body has been taken to zambezi Mortuary.
CHIPWITI
April 1, 2014 at 8:21 pm
Its amazing in this era we re still using stone age form of transport,why cant government construct a bridge not wasting money in bye elections
Trixy
April 2, 2014 at 3:10 pm
Hey people, I am not receiving any mail from Tufweko. Is everyone else experiencing this?
mike
April 2, 2014 at 6:36 pm
find the dead man and put the bridge there you lasy politicians with empty promices