THE ZAMBIA Police Service in Chinsali district of Muchinga Province have recovered a total of US$ 61,000 United States dollars from the scene of the fatal Tanzanian Taqwa bus which claimed three lives.
Muchinga Province Police Commissioner Remmy Kajoba has confirmed the development in an interview with the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in Chinsali.
Mr Kajoba said 21,000 United States Dollars was recovered from the accident scene while the remainder was recovered from the survivor who claimed that he took it from the deceased body of the bus conductor and wanted to take it back to the owners of the bus.
Mr Kajoba said the money was handed over to the Taqwa Bus Services Managers from Mbeya in Tanzania who came to claim the bodies of their workers and one passenger.
He said that the money was handed over to the company owners in the presence of one of the survivors who also confirmed that this was the money they had on the bus.
Other survivors currently admitted at Chinsali district hospital said they have not lost anything from the accident scene apart from one female passenger who is still unconscious.
The Taqwa Bus Services Managers have also taken all the goods, mainly boxes of body lotions which were on the bus.
Yesterday three people died on the spot in Shiwangándu district of Muchinga Province in the early of today in a fatal road traffic accident involving a Tanzanian Taqwa bus and a truck and trailer.
Five others have suffered multiple body injuries and have been admitted to Chinsali district hospital.
Both Muchinga Province Police Commissioner Remmy Kajoba and Muchinga Province Deputy Permanent Secretary Jewis Chabi have confirmed the accident in separate interviews with the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in Shiwangandu.
Mr Kajoba said the accident involving a Tanzanian Taqwa bus registration number T298 BLZ which was coming from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and a Tanzanian registered truck number T302 BBR and Trailer number T453 AHP which was coming from Lusaka happened between 04:00 and 05:00 hours at Chikumba Village, 29 Km North of Shiwangándu district along the Great North Road.
Mr Kajoba identified the deceased as Osward Daison Mwawapa the driver, Mapinduzi Gilbert Siwale the conductor adding that the third victim, a passenger has not yet been identified.
The deceased and the five injured are all from the Taqwa bus.
Mr Kajoba explained that the bus was trying to overtake the truck when it lost control and hit into the trailer, horse and flipped on its left side.
The bus which was full of goods from Congo DRC had only 11 people on board while the truck which was also going to Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania was empty.
And Muchinga Deputy Permanent Secretary Jewis Chabi who was found at the accident scene appealed to family members and friends who had their relatives on the Taqwa bus to go to Chinsali and help in identifiying one victim who has not yet been identified.
Mr Chabi has also cautioned motorists not to be over speeding adding that some of the accidents on the Zambian roads are caused by reckless drivers who do not obey traffic rules.
Meanwhile, Chinsali district hospital Senior Nursing officer Stanley Patela has confirmed that the hospital received three Brought In Dead (BID) and five injured passengers.
Mr Patela said from the five injured passengers, four have stabilized while a female Tanzanian patient has been unconscious from the time she was taken to the ward.
The bodies of the three bus victims are currently lying at Chinsali district hospital mortuary.