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Zimbabwe: Two Brothers Electrocuted
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 Published by the government of Zimbabwe |
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The Herald (Harare)
9 May 2008
Posted to the web 9 May 2008
Harare
Two brothers from Mabvuku were on Wednesday afternoon electrocuted when they stepped on a live Zesa cable while walking along a footpath in the suburb.
The death of Mike (13) and Martin (10) Chayamiti came a day before police shot and injured a suspected Epworth cable thief in Braeside, arrested 33 people and recovered over 50 tonnes of cables stolen in Mwenezi district.
Harare provincial police spokesperson Inspector James Sabau said the Chayamiti brothers died on the spot when they stepped on the live cables while walking along a footpath between Chizhanje and Old Mabvuku.
It is believed the cables were left exposed by thieves. "A Mabvuku man, Mr Penias Lazi, who witnessed the incident, told the police that the two boys were severely burnt," Insp Sabau said. He said Mr Lazi reported the case to Mabvuku Police Station, who attended to the scene and took the bodies to Parirenyatwa Hospital mortuary for post-mortem. Insp Sabau said investigations were still in progress. In a separate incident, police in Braeside shot a suspected thief yesterday who was stealing overhead electric cables at the intersection of Dieppe and Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo roads. Major Marungisa (30) of Epworth was shot on the right ankle while his accomplice, Maxwell Josiah, escaped unhurt.
Marungisa is currently recovering under police guard at Harare Central Hospital. Insp Sabau said the incident occurred at around 2am when the members from the police cycle patrol unit spotted the two in the act and fired three warning shots into the air. The pair took to their heels, prompting the police to fire towards them and hitting Marungisa on the right ankle. Police recovered two bicycles and an electric cable that had been cut into 111 pieces from the scene. Insp Sabau said police have intensified their patrols around Zesa, TelOne and National Railways of Zimbabwe properties to curb theft of copper cables.
In yet a separate incident, police in Masvingo have arrested 33 people and recovered over 50 tonnes of cables stolen in Mwenezi district last month and impounded six vehicles used in the theft. Masvingo police spokesperson Inspector Phibeon Nyambo said the value of the copper cables is yet to be ascertained as they were still making consultations with the NRZ. "Eight of the suspects have already appeared in court for stealing the copper wire," Insp Nyambo said.
He said six vehicles - including a three-tonne Hino truck, a commuter omnibus and a Mercedes-Benz sedan - were impounded and are currently at Mwenezi Police Station. The thefts, Insp Nyambo said, were rife in Rutenga, Zvishavane and Sarauro areas where the suspects loaded the cables into empty drums before crossing the border into South Africa to dispose of their loot.
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He said the suspects took the drums across the border on the pretext that they wanted to use them to carry fuel to Zimbabwe. Once on the other side, they reportedly sold the cables to South Africa-based foreign dealers.
Insp Nyambo said police would not tolerate such acts of theft and vandalism as they were harming the country's economy. He said the culprits were nabbed after police in Mwenezi launched an operation to curb the theft of copper cables. "The vehicles were modified to accommodate the copper wire during transportation. Some of the seats were removed," Insp Nyambo said.
He said police would not tolerate such acts of theft and vandalism as they were hurting the country's economy. Last week, six men were arrested and police recovered 4 000kg of stolen Zesa copper cables in Chinhoyi while a further 229kg were recovered in Harare.
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