Malawi: Fertiliser Truck Flips Into Ditch After 'Thugs' Grab Wheel in Road Rage Row

A man is behind bars in Mzuzu after a row over an unauthorised lift allegedly saw a gang of "touts" wrestle control of a moving lorry -- sending it careering into a roadside drain and flipping it onto its side.

Hussain Mussah, 24, of Singani Village in Machinga district, is being held by police accused of causing malicious damage to the truck in a terrifying incident at Katoto on Friday.

The DAF lorry, registration ZA 11882, was hauling a consignment of fertiliser from Chitipa to Lilongwe, driven by 51-year-old Christopher Kulemeka, when the drama unfolded.

According to police, Kulemeka had agreed to give a lift to a 16-year-old student heading to Chatoloma in Kasungu, at the request of a friend, Frank Banda.

But as the truck passed through Katoto Bus Stage, two men who reportedly control passenger pick-ups in the area flagged it down -- and demanded Kulemeka take on more passengers waiting at the stage. When he refused, the situation turned ugly fast.

Sergeant Edson Chipeni, assistant public relations officer at Mzuzu Police Station, said the men were furious the driver had picked up a passenger without paying a "fine."

"This angered the suspects who then demanded K5,000.00 from the driver as a fine for picking a passenger from their operating area.

"When the driver refused to pay, the suspects forcibly boarded the moving truck through both the driver and passenger doors and got hold of the steering wheel," Sergeant Chipeni said.

With the men grappling for the wheel, Kulemeka lost control of the vehicle. The truck careered off the road, plunged into a drain and overturned -- smashing the windscreen, front fender and passenger door in the process.

Chaos followed as onlookers who had witnessed the terrifying scene sprang into action, managing to grab hold of one of the alleged culprits -- named as Mussah -- before he could flee. His accomplice, known only as Steven, escaped and remains on the run.

Police say a manhunt is now under way for Steven, while Mussah is expected to appear in court shortly to answer a charge of malicious damage.

Read the original article on Nyasa Times.