Vusumuzi Dube
Valencia Ndhlovu, Sunday News Reporter
The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) has come up with measures to curb railroad accidents following the number of cases recorded in 2022.
This comes as the railway company revealed that 10 suicide cases were recorded last year through people throwing themselves in front of moving trains. In a statement, NRZ revealed that two other cases were noted as attempted suicide as the victims sustained injuries.
“12 suicide cases were recorded from the beginning of the year till the end. In the months January, May, November and December a total number of 10 people took their lives and two were left injured on different incidents,” reads the statement.
The month of January was recorded as the bloodiest with four adult males and one 20-year-old girl committing suicide. NRZ also recorded nine level crossing deaths, with the highest being in August where there were five level crossing deaths.
“In August four deaths were recorded at Grasslands level crossing, one death was at Kambuzuma level crossing. In June, two deaths were recorded at Emganwini level cross, one death was also recorded at Chiremba level cross and two injuries were recorded at Nora Level cross. In April, one man and one woman were killed, two male adults were injured at Chiremba level cross and one male adult was injured at Triangle Hospital level cross,” reads the statement.
To help curb future accidents, NRZ has come up with a number of measures which include improvement of visibility at level crossings and approaches through clearance of bush and vegetation.
“NRZ will also be embarking on the painting of level crossings signage for it to be visible to both drivers of trains, vehicles and other road users. Roads departments and local councils to install speed humps to slow down or force drivers to stop at these level crossings. There will also be the installation of flash lights/boom gates at all level crossings that are electronically controlled and continuous awareness campaigns educating members of the public on dangers of not respecting level crossings,” reads the statement.
Online Reporter