News / National
Soldiers critical after accident
01 Apr 2015 at 17:58hrs | Views
Five cadet soldiers who are part of the 57 involved in an accident along the Harare-Chirundu highway are still in a critical state, while 16 remain in hospital and 33 were discharged this Wednesday.
The road accident which occurred on Monday claimed the lives of two officer cadets and a member of staff who died on the spot.
The response was swift and some of the seriously injured were airlifted to Karoi and Parirenyatwa hospitals.
The rest of the soldiers most of whom had not sustained any serious injuries were taken to KG6 and Cranborne barracks hospitals.
The recruits were on their way for a training exercise in the Zambezi Valley and Makuti area.
One of the doctors on duty at Cranborne Barracks hospital, Dr Donald Madhongo and Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) Deputy Director - Medical Services, Lieutenant Colonel Dr Boniface Mandishona said most of the cadet soldiers will be discharged this Wednesday.
The issue of the injured soldiers has raised an eye opener on the state of road accidents which usually occur during Easter and other holidays.
Death and injury tolls have been known to significantly go up during such times and Zimbabwe has been urged to take an aggressive approach in dealing with carnage on it's roads.
The death toll from last Easter holiday's road traffic accidents was 30 and that of the prior year during the same period was a staggering 50.
Generally, the national death toll from road traffic accidents has continued to increase, amid calls by members of the public and public transport stakeholders for government to investigate the cause.
The recent cumulative road accident statistics from the ZRP for the period up to December 2014 reflect an almost two-fold increase in road crashes and Zimbabweans say the state of the roads and defective vehicles need to be revisited.
During the festive season a reported total close to 90 deaths occurred in 2014 alone, which is a surge from the previous 75 deaths which occurred during this same period the previous year.
The ZRP said the number of people injured in the accidents also rose to 589 during the period from 439 the previous year.
Trends indicate that accidents increase during the festive season and police attribute road accidents to speeding, reckless driving, failure to adhere to traffic safety rules and in some cases, unlicensed personnel getting behind the wheel.
2015 has had its fair share of accidents already with the most marked being the one that claimed 26 lives on the spot and injured 46 others when a ZUPCO and Unifreight buses side-swiped along the Harare Mutoko highway.
The road accident which occurred on Monday claimed the lives of two officer cadets and a member of staff who died on the spot.
The response was swift and some of the seriously injured were airlifted to Karoi and Parirenyatwa hospitals.
The rest of the soldiers most of whom had not sustained any serious injuries were taken to KG6 and Cranborne barracks hospitals.
The recruits were on their way for a training exercise in the Zambezi Valley and Makuti area.
One of the doctors on duty at Cranborne Barracks hospital, Dr Donald Madhongo and Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) Deputy Director - Medical Services, Lieutenant Colonel Dr Boniface Mandishona said most of the cadet soldiers will be discharged this Wednesday.
The issue of the injured soldiers has raised an eye opener on the state of road accidents which usually occur during Easter and other holidays.
The death toll from last Easter holiday's road traffic accidents was 30 and that of the prior year during the same period was a staggering 50.
Generally, the national death toll from road traffic accidents has continued to increase, amid calls by members of the public and public transport stakeholders for government to investigate the cause.
The recent cumulative road accident statistics from the ZRP for the period up to December 2014 reflect an almost two-fold increase in road crashes and Zimbabweans say the state of the roads and defective vehicles need to be revisited.
During the festive season a reported total close to 90 deaths occurred in 2014 alone, which is a surge from the previous 75 deaths which occurred during this same period the previous year.
The ZRP said the number of people injured in the accidents also rose to 589 during the period from 439 the previous year.
Trends indicate that accidents increase during the festive season and police attribute road accidents to speeding, reckless driving, failure to adhere to traffic safety rules and in some cases, unlicensed personnel getting behind the wheel.
2015 has had its fair share of accidents already with the most marked being the one that claimed 26 lives on the spot and injured 46 others when a ZUPCO and Unifreight buses side-swiped along the Harare Mutoko highway.
Source - zbc
