Missing pupil found in Hospital ICU

A SEVENTEEN-year-old boy who was reported missing in July has been found at the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) after spending more than a month in the intensive care unit. Albright Munkuli from Mbundane suburb, a Form Five pupil at Hamilton High School was found following the publication of his family's appeal in The Chronicle on Tuesday.

He spent July and August in the institution's ICU and is still admitted in hospital, unable to speak, after being involved in what appears to have been a hit and run accident. The teenager is said to have lost his memory following the ordeal, making it difficult for hospital authorities or the police to identify him.

Police officers contacted his family on Tuesday after his mother's appeal was published in that day's edition of The Chronicle. Police asked him to write down his name and it matched that of the boy whose parents were looking for him through The Chronicle. Albright went missing on July 26.

His mother Varaidzo Munkuli yesterday said she went to the UBH on Tuesday after being notified by the police to go and identify someone whose description matched that of the person she was looking for. "The police phoned me on Tuesday morning and told me that my child was at UBH.

"I also received a call from my nearest police station, Nkulumane ZRP, who told me the same good news. "I rushed to UBH. I found out that it was my son," said Munkuli. She said the hospital told her that Albright was admitted after he was hit by a car and was not talking, making it difficult to identify him or his family.

Munkuli said they have not heard anything about the driver who hit their son. "They said he lost his memory. He was removed from intensive care unit after one month but still he could not talk by then. "They said he could only write his name. The police said after seeing The Chronicle article on Tuesday they realised that he was my son and they phoned me.

"They said the name that he wrote down was the one in the article," she said. She added that Albright sustained a broken leg and was still not talking. Munkuli thanked The Chronicle for publishing the article.

Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Precious Simango said: "The pupil who went missing on July 26 was involved in an accident on the day he disappeared and he was admitted at UBH. "The boy lost his memory. The hospital could not locate his family members.

"He can't talk and is still admitted at the hospital. We give thanks to The Chronicle."