BUUMBA CHIMBULU writes
A TRUCK yesterday crushed a pedestrian to death on the Kafue Road, leaving both the driver and on lookers in shock as the mangled body lay under the belly of the foreign registered vehicle.
The driver, Shepard Kamwendo, was in tears as he explained the incident to The Sun team that rushed to the scene.
The accident, which occurred around 10:30 hours, was witnessed by passers-by who told the Sun that the victim threw himself at the truck.
And the shocked Zimbabwean truck driver yesterday narrated to The Sun that he tried to avoid hitting the victim but all his efforts proved futile as the man threw himself on the road. But eye witnesses said the man appeared mentally unstable. Mr. Kamwendo works for a South African company called Afriball.
“I was moving coming from this side (South part of Kafue road), then I saw this guy. He was walking out of the road, me I was on my lane. When I was trying to change the lane, he came and jumped on the road. I tried to avoid him but he kept on moving until he bumped into the trailer,” Mr Kamwendo said.
When asked if he was moving at a high speed, Mr Kamwendo narrated that his speed was less than the recommended 40 kilometre per hour.
Mr Kamwendo explained that the body of the victim could have been more crushed if he was moving at high speed.
“I stopped immediately when I realised that I had hit somebody. I am a Zimbabwean but this is a South African company, we carry different things and right now I am going to the Democratic Republic of Congo,” he said.
And according to eye witnesses, the victim was unstable and he had a habit of playing on the road.
Joseph Ngoma explained that the victim threw himself against the truck when it was passing on the road.
“The person who has been hit threw himself on the truck when it was moving, he’s not normal. It is not like the driver hit him, aziponyamo chabe. (He threw himself) when the truck wanted to change the lane,” Mr Ngoma said.
By 11:40 hours yesterday, police had not yet picked or covered the body of the victim.