Deadly Tuesday on Mogoditshane roads

VICTOR MUYAKWABO
Staff Writer | Thursday January 31, 2013 00:00

 

The first accident is reported to have occurred at around 3am when a mini bus that was transporting workers from Gaborone West industrial to Molepolole collided with an oncoming truck from the Ledumadumane direction. 

According to the Station Traffic Officer at Mogoditshane Police Station, Assistant Superintendent Gorge Mabotenyane, four passengers in the mini bus were rushed to Princess Marina Hospital and treated for serious injuries while a female was certified died upon arrival.

He said even though they are still investigating the cause of the accident, they suspect that one of the drivers sped through a red traffic light.  The second accident reportedly occurred a few meters from the scene of the first. A 36-year-old man was knocked down by a car near a bus stop by Supa Save supermarket. The car was reportedly traveling from the direction of Gaborone towards Molepolole. The victim died in hospital.

According to Mabotenyane, the third accident occurred along the Gaborone- Kanye road between Kumakwane and Gabane village. He said the driver of a motor vehicle travelling from Gaborone to Kanye allegedly lost control of the car and it overturned. All three people on board were rushed to hospital and a female passenger was certified died upon arrival.  Mabotenyane added that they recorded three other minor accidents in the Mogoditshane area on the same day.

According to police statistics five people have died in separate road accidents in Mogoditshane since the beginning of January. Mabotenyane said they have now started combining education and enforcement by deploying some of their officers to accident prone areas like the Supa Save intersection.  

Meanwhile, 20 people have died in road traffic accidents since the beginning of the year, as opposed to 18 who died during the same period last year. The police weekly report indicates that six people died in accidents during the past week. In one incident four people died when the vehicle they were travelling in overturned along the A1 highway near Topisi village and the driver is likely to face a charge of causing death by drunken driving.