Mutharika consoles fallen Malawi army soldier’s families
President Peter Mutharika has consoled families of two Malawi Defence Force (MDF) soldiers who died while working on abridge across Bua River in Kasungu on Monday.
Four soldiers and two civilians were swept away by running water at Bua Bridge, which borders Ntchisi and Kasungu districts, while four others sustained serious injuries when it collapsed on them.
MDF deployed the Marine Batallion troops from Senga Bay for a search mission after they noticed that the soldiers and civilians were swept away while working on the old steel bridge which sources say was built during the colonial rule.
One body was recovered on Monday while troops receovered one more body of their colleague on Tuesday.
MDF spokesperson Major Paul Chiphwanya confirmed that Lance Corporal Tinenenji Bakali was buried at Madisi in Dowa while Warrant Officer Class1 Lawrence Ulanga was laid to rest at his home Nkhata Village, Traditional Authority Tembera in Salima..
Chief Secretary in the Office of President and Cabinet (OPC) Lloyd Muhara said in a statement seen by Nyasa Times that the President, who is also MDF Commander-In-Chief, is shocked with the death of the two soldiers and the missing of another soldier and civilians.
Some of the four injured soldiers are receiving treatment at Kasungu District Hospital while others were treated as outpatients on Sunday night.
According to Chiphwanya, soldiers were assessing the old bridge for delaunching when it collapsed. But witnesses say they were dismantling metals to be used for other purposes elsewhere.
Last November, MDF lost six soldiers and four reported missing in a United Nations (UN) peace keeping mission in Democratic Republic of Congo while 22 new recruits died in a Mzimba road accident in the same month.
Malawi Army, Malawi Police yes the whole Malawi Government they don’t take things seriously at all.. no health and safety measures. .they always know that something will happen however they don’t take precautions. ..RIP Guys
Am very sorry for these deaths ,may God console the bereaved families
Ma soldier munamenya mmbare
Wanga p0sachedwapa ndi kumuvulaza zedi chifukwa chobvala camouflage — munatengapo matsoka ndi minyama ( REPENT /CHANGE )
my condolences to the family and may good Load comfort them
This is careless with life and giving pains to the families who lost their loved ones. You can assess a bridge in a river like Bua which full into capacity. No please a Malawi tiyeni tisamale moyo wathu omwe anatipatsa Mulungu angakhale asilikali moyo ndiwofunika not killing ourselves in that way this is very regrettable. Why not assess when water is depleted in the river and we all know that Bua has a lot of crocodiles and obviously those missing might be eaten by crocodiles..
Very bad, my condolences to the family
this is sad