Man found dead in Banket - Harare train coach toilet

A 69-YEAR-OLD man died in a train coach toilet under unclear circumstances last Saturday while travelling from Banket to Harare.

Morris Chikomba Jirira of Banket, died in a National Railways of Zimbabwe train that was travelling from Chinhoyi to Harare, the Herald reported.

NRZ spokesperson Mr Fanuel Masikati yesterday confirmed the incident, saying Jirira's body was discovered three days later when NRZ workers were cleaning the coaches.

"The man had gone missing since Saturday and we discovered the body on Monday.

"Our security department had seen his belongings unattended and kept them. They did not know who the owner was," he said.

Jirira's daughter, Isabelle, castigated NRZ for not being co-operative when she was looking for her father.

"We waited for him at the train station since I had talked to him earlier that day.

"When I did not see him, I went to the security department to ask for his whereabouts and they said they had not seen him and claimed he had dropped off at Darwendale train station.

"We kept calling his number and his mobile phone kept on ringing until Sunday afternoon when the battery went flat.

"We did all we could as a family to the extent of going to Harare and Parirenyatwa hospital mortuaries looking for him.

"We also filed a report with the police but they only said investigations would only begin after seven days of the person being reported missing," she said.

Mr Masikati said their investigations found out that Mr Jirira was diabetic, a condition that could have led to his death.

Police yesterday said they did not have such a report.