Matsha driver could face charges
Sharon Mathala | Tuesday November 17, 2015 18:00
The driver of the truck is still admitted at the Scottish Livingstone Hospital in Molepolole. Matsha accident investigation officer from the Botswana Police Service, Assistant Commissioner Engemadzo Sechele, who is the Divisional Traffic Officer South told Mmegi here yesterday that investigations were ongoing.
“We are yet to determine whether the truck could accommodate over 126 people together with luggage,” Sechele said. “When we do, that is when we will determine whether there was an overload or not.”
He also said that if investigations show that the truck was overloaded, the truck driver would be charged. Sechele added that it might take a while before they have the exact number of the passengers because some students were dropped off at their home villages before the accident.
“At the moment, we do not have the total number of passengers who were in the truck,” he said. “No one knows the exact number of students. What we do know is the number of students who were taken to the hospitals.”
The truck, which belongs to the Kweneng District Council, is currently at the Takatokwane Police Station awaiting a roadworthiness inspection by Department of Road Transport and Safety (DRTS).
The damages on the truck are the deep dents at the front, missing windows and windscreen, dents on the body’s rails and shattered left rear tyre. Initial investigations suggest that the truck may have had a tyre burst before it overturned killing five of the seven dead students on the spot.
When a Mmegi news crew arrived at the Takatokwane Police Station, some relatives of the victims could be seen trying to identify their children’s luggage.
Meanwhile at Matsha College, unrest continues after the weekend strike by the remaining Form 4 students. The Mmegi team yesterday, found windows of school buildings broken and vandalised.
The form four end-of-year examinations have been put on hold. The accident took place at Dutlwe in the Letlhakeng Sub-District, along the Letlhakeng-Morwamosu road on Friday. The accident victims were returning home after their form five examinations at Matsha College in Kang.