5 die in Kam’mwamba road accident
Five people have died while five others are undergoing treatment at Lisungwi Community Hospital in Neno after two vehicles they were travelling in collided near Kam’mwamba Trading Centre on the M1 in the district.
Neno Police spokesperson Austin Kamwendo in an interview on Sunday said the accident occurred after the driver of a Honda Fit hatchback vehicle registration BZ 2105 reportedly lost control and hit a Hijet pick-up that had eight people on board.
He said the Honda Fit, whose driver is at large, was coming from the Chingeni/Phalula direction heading towards Zalewa with two passengers on board.
Kamwendo said upon arrival at Kandoje, few kilometres from Kam’mwamba, the vehicle veered off its lane and collided with the Hijet head-on.
He said: “The five were confirmed dead upon arrival at Lisungwi Community Hospital and the remaining three escaped with minor injuries.
“The driver of Honda Fit hatchback is at large and his two passengers escaped with minor injuries and were treated as out-patients. Both motor vehicles were extensively damaged.”
The accident happened two days after CCAP Blantyre Synod general secretary the Reverend Anderson Juma escaped with injuries after the vehicle he was travelling in was also involved in a road accident around the same area on Friday.
Kamwendo said the Kam’mwamba section of the M1 tends to be accident-prone because it appears to be straight and flat, a situation that makes most drivers to accelerate more despite potholes.
A recent Nation on Sunday analysis shows that despite Malawi Police Service recording a drop in road accidents in previous years, a four-year trend found an increase in the proportion of fatal accidents.
According to the analysis, the proportion of fatal accidents to the total number of road accidents in 2019 was 2.1 percent while in 2020 it increased to eight percent.
The reports show that in 2019 there were 10 193 road accidents out of which 528 were fatal and killed 625 people. In 2020 there were 10 799 recorded road accidents of which 570 killed 1 221 people.
