By NORMA SIAME –
TWO people have drowned after cables attached to a pontoon operating on the Chambeshi River snapped at the weekend.
The other seven passengers who were on board the pontoon survived the incident and managed to get to river bank alive.
The pontoon was ferring an Isuzu truck registration LLB 3479 laden with timber which was on its way to Nakonde.
Northern Province deputy police chief Milner Muyambango confirmed the accident which occurred at the Safwa crossing on the Kasama-Mbesuma Road.
He identified the missing persons as Cephas Silungwe, 25, and Mathews Sichone, 31, who where the lorry boys of the truck.
The pontoon became uncontrollable after three of the poles on which the cables where anchored snapped on the western side of the Safwa crossing point.
The duo that drowned ignored warnings from the pontoon operator to stay on the pontoon and be calm.
“They panicked and decided to take their chances in raging currents of the river. Unfortunately the current swept them away and their bodies have not been seen,” Mr Muyambango said.
The pontoon and the truck which are partially submeregd under water where swept away about 300 meters from the crossing point by the current, anchored itself on some stones with the truck still on board
A team from the Zambia National Service was on site to assess how to how the pontoon and truck could be brought safely to the river bank.
