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Temba Dube Senior Reporter—
A BOILER explosion shattered a worker’s pelvis and ripped open his abdomen leaving his intestines and lungs hanging at Driveshaft Centre in Bulawayo yesterday. Claudius Makumbe, 24, of Pumula South died less than an hour later at the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH). The blast left bits of Makumbe’s flesh, bones and entrails splattered on the roof.
Co-workers said the boiler exploded and a cylinder weighing about 10kg rocketed into Makumbe ripping his abdomen. The cylinder shot through the roof of the workshop and embedded itself on the roof at OK Mart, about 200m away.
Brian Ngwenya, one of Makumbe’s colleagues, said he heard a loud explosion around 11AM coming from the workshop.
“We rushed in to find Claudius in a pool of blood. He kept telling the boss (Ludwick Masvinyangwa, 45) that he was dying. ‘Sengisifa mina, sengifile,’ he kept saying,” said Ngwenya.
“It looked like one side of his body, from the knees to the rib-cage was missing. At that moment no one knew what had happened. An ambulance was called and he was rushed to hospital. He had started babbling.”
Masvinyangwa, who seemed to be in shock, said the boiler exploded and destroyed part of the workshop including the roof. “I really don’t know what happened. I am still struggling to understand it. I hope he is going to be okay. It seems the boiler exploded causing all this damage,” said Masvinyangwa.
Another worker said the boiler cylinder hit Makumbe and propelled him in the air for about five metres.
“He slammed against a car in the garage and the cylinder flew like a missile onto the OK Mart rooftop,” said the worker.
The maintenance manager at OK Mart, Jameson Moyo said the cylinder banged into the roof, startling workers. “We were shocked to see the roof opening up. It was lucky the thing hit the roof almost directly above a roof truss, otherwise it might have fallen inside and killed someone,” said Moyo.
When detectives climbed up the roof, they found that the cylinder had blasted through three layers of corrugated sheeting and rested on a truss.
Back at the workshop, it looked like a hurricane had passed through.
The corner where the boiler had been bolted was a mess of splintered wood and metal.
A pool of blood was on the floor where Makumbe was reportedly standing when the calamity occurred. An acrid smell of raw flesh filled the workshop.
UBH chief executive officer Nonhlanhla Ndlovu confirmed Makumbe was dead.
“Sadly, he passed on about 10 minutes ago. His injuries were too serious. His pelvis was crushed and most of his vital internal organs were affected. He was also bleeding profusely. Although he was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit, doctors could not save his life, unfortunately,” said Ndlovu at around 1.30PM.
Bulawayo deputy police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Abednico Ncube also confirmed the accident.
“Police attended to the scene and investigations are underway to determine the cause,” he said.
Online Reporter