Road accident at Rivirivi Bridge exposes Malawi’s loose emergency response services
Road accident involving a bus at Rivirivi Bridge has exposed Malawi’s loose emergency response services after both police and medical personnel took over two hours to rescue a woman who was trapped by the fallen Future Tours Bus with the registration number BLK 4093.
The woman had consistently kept crying out for help to the point where onlookers feared her dead after she had gone silent only to find her still breathing after the rescue.
Onlookers at the scene were observed wailing whilst others fainted as they couldn’t contain the sight of the injured survivors.
Balaka District Hospital which responded to the accident where ten people have been confirmed dead, three have sustained serious injuries and 45 others have escaped with minor injuries, seemed to have been overwhelmed.
Only seven medical personnel were available to assist the casualties. A single ambulance was available to ferry injured people to the hospital while dead bodies remained on the scene.
Spokesperson for Balaka Hospital Spokesperson, Mercy Nyirenda, said some of the injured have been referred to Zomba Central Hospital, which is 81 kilometres away from the Balaka for specialized treatment.
According to Ntcheu Police Public Relations Officer Hastings Chigalu, the bus which was travelling from Lilongwe to Blantyre burst one of its tyres and the driver lost control trying to navigate a turn causing the bus to overturn several times before resting at the steel bars of the bridge.
“While at the scene legs, hands, and other body parts were collected separately from their bodies and sent to the waiting ambulance,” said Chigalu told Mana.
According to an eye witness at the scene, James Ngozo, the bus overturned three times before hitting a bridge pavement.
“The bus was speeding and we first heard the sound of the tyre bursting the crashing followed. We rushed to find people crying whilst others were trying to escape” said Ngozo.
Some of the factors that, as a nation, we seriously need to consider to avoid such horrific road accidents:
1) Over-speeding
2) How our drivers obtain driving license
3) Transit service. In those days buses could be checked before connecting routes. Is this happening now.
4) Did the driver have enough rest?
5) Was the driver not drunk
6) Quality of our national roads
7) Did the bus load according to the carrying capacity?
Dzachitsoni, mdzimu wawo uwutse muntendele, kwaovulala Yehova wa mphamvu ya machilitso awakhudze ndiku chilitsidwa.
Pakufunika boma lipangeko kanthu, ma bus akuthamanga kwambiri, ma bus ena akumadutsa 120Kms/hr zimene zili zinthu zovuta kuti driver apange control bus china chake chikachitika. Pakufunika pakhazikitsidwe malamulo okhwima okhudzana ndi speed ya ma bus
Tyres, just like almost EVERYTHING ELSE, are made according to suit different environments. One of the main considerations is the temperature of the place where the tyre is going to be used. Tyres made for temperatures of Europe are not suitable for use in the Sahara region. Is there anybody out there who has the responsibility of ensuring that the tyres we that come into Malawi meet the requirements of Malawi’s conditions? Kapena timangoti bola tyre? I am not talking of the Traffic Police because those guys only judge a tyre by its appearance, they know nothing about its technical make up. Another problem is that most vehicles in Malawi akuyendera matayala a retread. Sadly, this includes buses. So when such tyres meet the kind of surfaces of what we call “good roads” that we have in Malawi, accidents like this one are expected. In short, most road accidents in Malawi are not accidental. They are planned through negligence or ignorance. I hope someone somewhere will start thinking.
KOmanso anthufe tikaona kuti driver alkuthamanga tidzimuyankhula. Always timati tikafika msanga which is wrong.
Ndalama akungodya osagula ma ambulance. Cashgaters money zili kuti? Nyumba ya treaser senzani osagulitsa bwanji and buy ambulances?
ngozi ndi ngozi chabwino..koma tell me a ma bus,mumathamangila chani kodi??kungoyenda pang’ono sizitheka kodi?
This is too sad and a big tragedy to the family members who lost their beloved ones. May the Almighty receive the soul of these deceased bodies
This is too sad and a big tragedy to the family members who has their beloved ones. May the Almighty receive the soul of these deacsed bodies.
ma bus akwathu kuno mukumalemba ma driver ambili ogula ma driving licence. pataikidwa malamulo okwima a insurance, nanga ose afa, avulalawa pali ma COMPESANTION????????????? cifukwa akakhala okufa ovulala ndi ma bwana olo family, a boma amati anafedwa ,athandizidwa- public funds iiiyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
no ambulance mmwathu muno za manyazi, koma ma bwana athu kumakayamikila maiko aazathu, miseu ta mmyaaaaa, mmanyumba magetsi 24/7 ..365 days no blacout, madzi mma jakuzi kusamba final akamabwerako kusalala matupi, ZUMA SAname, tingokakamila ka nseu kucoka pa area 18 kulekeza pa bunda thanofu. iiiyyyyyyyyy manyazi bwa , ma loboti atatu okha and we call it a capital city.iiiyyyyyyyyy
ambulasi yopanda zipangizo. anta oxygen let alone emergency medicines iiyyyyyyyyy, munthu akagwa timamunyamula kunka naye kucipatala koma atafa kale, iyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy anthu akumidzi cifundo amasolola munthu kufuna kumpulumutsa ,zoona salakwa -ncisoni, koma kuvulazitsanso,koma pakanakhala ambulasi zikanamakhalapo, pakanakhala ma helokopta, za emmergency stat. koma 2 hours munthu wa ngozi azidikila.
timiseu tongofukula basi no 2 olo 3 way lanes iyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy kucititsa manyazi ndi cisoni.tajudukani anthu nu ndlama za citukuko nde zikubedwa -anyway ngati acina caponda ,bingu ,nakhumwa, dausi ndi ma azao ena ose, ena ndomwe anafa anazisiya anadya, anawa akanasambila mma kwaca dollar etc. zikomo, kozani miseu
May god in heaven should cease the hearts of concerned relatives
Future company belongs to honourable Welani Chilenga
Road traffic? my foot its pocket traffic,send a reputable ACB officer if theres any around to road traffic dept BT,ZA,LL and MZ tomorrow they wont see be it a big or mini bus being presented for certificate of fitness,not like during the Matupa/Nguluwe era when car/bus owners used to think twice before presenting vehicles for C of F lero cof ndi hand shake with ten aloe its done.They do not care about loss of life.
Crises such as floods in cities, fires in public places and government offices, water and road accidents can be good yardstick to measure country’s capabilities in managing issues.
Malawians we just have to accept very strong traffick rules if we are to reduce accidents in our country.
IWE MFITI YA MUNTHU CHAPONDA UKUONA
ZIMENEZI NDI AGALU ANZAKOWO ??
NDALAMA MWALONGEZA
MMATUMBA
A big bus overturning 3 times? No no noo. It must have been in supersonic speed. Buses must now be fitted with seat belts for passengers
Innalillah wa inailaih rajuuna
If there is any case for using army helicopters, this emergency is one of them. Why was this not deployed to rush the injured to hospital.
Without seeming to undermine the sad turn this and many public transport emergencies bring; there is a dangerous pattern emerging where driver error is at play. It would appear some drivers are not knowledgeable about the consequences of riding brakes. Coming from an aviation background; pilots only apply brakes when the speed of an aircraft has decelerated to a specific figure. Applying brakes at high speeds usually causes wheels to lock, brakes to overheat and cause fire, etc. All these will definitely cause loss of control to any wheeled vehicle; hence, speed control is the only better means of stopping such accidents from happening.
My Prayers to the bereaved families and the walking wounded.
Excellent observation
We need to have more clinics both along the roads and in the remotest parts of Malawi. 10 tax payers have been lost already.
Madam Juliana Lunguzi this is the issue that you should be raising in Parliament. Established an Ambulance services with well trained paramedics, upgrade Balaka Hospital to a referral hospital and establish fire services for each district. Fire services is not for fire but accidents like these. Please revoke a license for this bus company
sad news, may their souls rest in peace.
It causes a big worry when a country like malawi has a reputable engineering institution, road traffic directorate and malawi bureau of standards. I am disappointed realizing that tyres rated for temperatures lower than those we experience in malawi have filtered into the country because of cheaper prices. Engineers please find a way of helping those that think they know, including traffic police officers, who are just convniced by the look of the tyres or else we will perish. So sad.
zachisoni really , no ambulances, medical personnel, boma lochititsa manyazi, vomiting, yet they travel all over the world and see how countries care about their citizens , anyani, afisi, agalu, mbatama chipresident, 2 hrs waiting for emergency services …..
Two hours, why Malawians? Rivirivi Bridge at Manjawira ili pafupi ndi Chingeni road block. Mwatengapo gao kupha anthu pakuchedwa kwanu.
The question is does MALAWI have emergency response services? The answer is we do not have, we manage everything as it comes. Yes management by crisis.
Non existent emergency services. First of all, it must be made into a law that all M1 roadbin malawi should be more than 6.2m wide. Preferably it must be dual carriageway. It is shambolic to see how narrow the roads are in malawi while ministers houses are getting bigger.