from MAVHUTO BANDA in Lilongwe, Malawi
Malawi Bureau
LILONGWE, (CAJ News) – MALAWI is reeling from the deaths of scores of its citizens in road accidents outside the country.
In recent years, the government has reported at least 25 deaths in South Africa and Zimbabwe, involving buses ferrying passengers to those destinations.
In the most recent incident last Thursday, a South Africa-bound Malawian bus was involved in a crash that left eight people dead and 40 injured in the Limpopo region. A stretch of highway in Limpopo, connecting South Africa to neighbouring countries, is widely regarded as a danger zone, with thousands of fatalities recorded over the years.
Two days earlier, 17 people died, including eight on the spot, in the Kotwa district of Zimbabwe, near the border with Mozambique. An unspecified number of people were injured.
Over the weekend, the Malawian government reported that the first group of survivors from the Zimbabwe bus accident had arrived in the country via the Mwanza Border.
They have been accommodated at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre.
The group, 49 in total, includes 27 males, 16 females and six children.
Wilson Moleni, Commissioner of the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA), welcomed the repatriated Malawians.
“The government has worked with several partners, including the Zimbabwean government, to bring the people home,” he said.
DoDMA confirmed that the remains of those who lost their lives in the accident are expected to arrive in the country on Monday.
Thousands of Malawians reside in or travel to regional countries in search of better opportunities. The government is among several that have issued advisories to their nationals in South Africa following recurring xenophobic incidents.
– CAJ News