By MILDRED KATONGO and KASONDE KASONDE –
.Juldan Bus
THE Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) has launched investigations to ascertain the cause of accidents involving Juldan Motors following a second accident yesterday where four people died in Mporokoso.
RTSA head, public relations Frederick Mubanga said the agency was concerned with Juldan Motors’ poor road safety record following another accident in South Africa, where one passenger died.
“Juldan Motors has recorded three road traffic accidents in a period of one month, hence the need to address the company’s poor road safety profile,” Mr Mubanga warned.
He said based on the outcome of the investigations, the public would be advised on the next course of action to be taken.
In Mporokoso, three passengers along with the driver of a Marcopolo bus bound for Lusaka died with 27 passengers being injured after the bus overturned around 06:00 hours.
Police spokesperson Esther Katongo said in a statement that seven passengers are in a critical condition at Kasama General Hospital along with 20 others.
Ms Katongo said the accident happened at Mporokoso turn off when the driver lost control.
The driver identified as David Kapoka of Kabanana in Lusaka and two other passengers died on the spot while one died at a hospital.
“The accident happened on Kasama- Luwingu road, 32 kilometers west of Kasama. The accident involved a bus registration number ABE6 940,” she said.
And Mr Mubanga said preliminary investigations conducted by RTSA had established that the driver lost control of the vehicle due to the bad weather condition and speeding.
He said last week, another Juldan Motors bus was involved in a road traffic accident in Zimbabwe killing one person and earlier last month, another of their buses was involved in a road accident along the
Ndola-Kapiri Mposhi road.
In another development confirmed by Ms Katongo, a three-year-old boy has died after his father ran over him while trying to reverse a truck.
Ms Katongo said the accident happened when the driver who was the father of the victim was reversing a Hino Ranger truck registration number ALM 2954 within the yard ending up running over his son.
