Survivors of a road accident which happened on Tuesday in Chisamba have paid glowing tribute to the driver, who died on the spot, for his determination to prevent the mishap.

Gelvasio Phiri, 49, of Lusaka died around 09:00 hours on the Great North road when a Higer bus belonging to Yamukombe Express with 35 people on board hit into a truck which suddenly got into his lane. The truck was ferrying fertiliser to Nchelenge in Luapula Province.
After travelling for nearly 900 kilometres from Nakonde, where most of the passengers had gone to do business, the unexpected happened, just 50 kilometres before their destination, Lusaka.

Chanda Bwalya, who sat in the third row on the bus, narrated that he suddenly saw a truck coming towards the bus and the driver [of the bus] did his best to swerve away to avoid a collision but it was too late. “This man who has died has saved our lives. Had he not put in any effort, the bus would have overturned and many lives would have been lost,” said Mr Bwalya, a business man.

Most of the passengers are traders who had gone to buy goods in Tanzania. Central Province commissioner of police Joel Njase said in a separate interview that the driver of the truck, Clement Banda, 36, is among the five people injured in the accident. Angela Sichamba, who witnessed the accident, said the truck driver was overtaking another vehicle without realising that a bus was approaching from the opposite direction.

“The one who was driving the truck caused the accident because he got into the lane where the bus was and he is the one who hit into the bus,” said Ms Sichamba, who sells vegetables near the accident scene.

She said the driver of the bus tried to avoid the head-on collision but the truck still hit into the bus resulting in the death of one person. Central Province director of health Charles Msiska said 29 passengers were attended to at Liteta Hospital for injuries sustained in the accident.
Dr Msiska said two people with serious injuries were referred to the University Teaching Hospital.
Yamukombe Express Bus manager Evans Mwape described Mr Phiri as a good driver.

“We have not recorded any accident. This is the first accident we have recorded and it’s sad that we have lost our driver,” Mr Mwape said.