The Zambia Police service says it is too early to tell if the accident which caused the death of 4 Queens’s players and a coach was caused by poor road condition adding that the police and other relevant authorities are still stills conducting investigations.
The five Solwezi Queens Academy members perished on 3rd December, 2022, while 16 others sustained serious injuries after their bus got involved in an accident as the team was heading to Mpika for a FAZ Women’s National League fixture.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT – Police Assistant Public Relations Officer Godfrey Chilabi said the police are currently doing their preliminary thorough investigations and after conclusion, they will take the next course of action.
The accident happened on 3rd December, 2022 around 03:30 hours near Sacko mine area along the Great North Road in Mkushi District of Central province. The road network is poor, with some stretches such as Ndola to Kapiri being in very poor state due to lack of routine maintainance or rehabilitation.
Motorists have at severy occasions taken to social media and pointed to the poor state of the roads even on major highways such as Lusaka – Ndola road, the Lufunsa – Nyimba road and other key roads which which have developed potholes pausing as a safety hazard and has lead to loss of lives.
He said the preliminary investigations done so far at the scene of accident indicate that the accident that saw the five dead happened due to over speeding. Chilabi said Police is still trying to establish what really transpired which will lead to the next course of action.
“Of course we cannot rule out the offence of causing death by dangerous driving, that cannot be ruled out as at now as the accident happened due to access speed.” He said. Chilabi said investigations may not have time limit adding that some survivors are still in shock and are not in a position to give interviews.
“So we are just in the early stages of compiling everything and after that will arrive at a conclusive decision and like I indicated we can’t rule out the aspect of over speeding.”
He said police officers are on the ground and there are humanitarian issues going on in ensuring that those who were discharged and those flown to Lusaka need to be interviewed and come to a conclusive decision.
The Police has since appealed to motorist and the public to follow the road rules and regulations to avoid accidents. He said the clubs and other road users embarking on long journey should be mindful of the road condition and the time that they are driving
