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Karoi-Chirundu road accident, 6 family members die

by Staff Reporter
22 Feb 2014 at 07:13hrs | Views
SIX family members from Karoi died in a road traffic accident along the Karoi-Chirundu Road on Wednesday night as they were taking their deceased relative's body to Magunje for burial.

Mashonaland West police spokesperson Inspector Clemence Mabgweazara confirmed the accident and identified four of the deceased as Patrick Mapuranga, Raffel Baloyi, Ernest Taruziva (34) and Rumbidzai Mujinga. According to the police, the truck carrying mourners and the deceased Lenika's body burst a tyre and veered off the road before landing on its roof, killing four people on the spot among them two minor children. The other two died on admission at Karoi District Hospital.

Family spokesperson Reginald Maphosa told NewsDay yesterday that the accident occurred as they were carrying the body of Lenika for burial at her in-laws' rural home in Makande, Hurungwe.

Another family member who declined to be named said prior to the accident, the family had clashed over where she should be buried as her parents wanted her interred at their family shrine at Zebra Downs Farm near Karoi.

"There was a misunderstanding over where Lenika was to be buried after her death at Karoi District Hospital. Her parents were against the idea of having her buried at her in-laws' homestead in Hurungwe, but wanted her to be buried at the farm," said another distant relative identified as Phineas.

Lenika's father was among the deceased.

By midday yesterday, the two families had not yet made burial arrangements and all the bodies were still at Karoi District Hospital mortuary.

Source - NewsDay