Kudzaishe Masendeke
ZAKA – Blessing Gomana, who was doing grade two at Murerekwa Primary School was knocked down, dragged for several meters by motor vehicle and died while patching potholes and charging motorist passing by on Friday August 12.
Though Masvingo police said they were yet to receive a report on the matter, local ward (8) councilor Tererai Tererai confirmed the incident and said the deceased has already been buried at his home in Gwara village under chief Ndanga.
“The boy was patching potholes a few meters from Murerekwa school turnoff towards Roy when a white guy stopped and offered him US$5 as a token. When he drove off, he mistakenly racked him with a boat trailer he was pulling and dragged him only to stop after some meters,” said Tererai
He went on to say after the incident, the juvenile was rushed to Ndanga District Hospital where died upon admission due to injuries sustained in the accident.
“The driver later stoped and helped the boy toNdanga Hospital but he died because he had lost a lot of blood. The driver assisted the family with US$570 to cater for funeral expenses,” said Tererai
Masvingo Provincial Roads Engineer Robert Mukome encouraged parents to prohibit children from working on roads and said awareness through schools to amplify cause was critical to avoid further losses in future.
“As a word of advice to parents, please prohibit children from working on highways as motorists will be traveling at very high speed. The speeding is dangerous to their safety. May this information be relayed through schools within the highway’s corridors as more noise on this notion will help.
“Again as a ministry we are still facing some operational challenges constrained mainly on resources. Management is still engaging all relevant stakeholders to come up with a long term and sustainable intervention to address this mishap we are encountering. Let’s continue to exercise patience and caution as we traverse this route, We are working flat out to ensure required resources are availed to address this life threatening danger posed by the current status of our road,” said Eng Mukome
