Guard found naked, dead at chemical factory

Mpumelelo Nyoni Chronicle Reporter
A SECURITY guard at Cernol Chemicals in Bulawayo was yesterday found dead and naked in a company vehicle.
Colleagues said they suspect the guard (name withheld as his next of kin have not been informed) could have poisoned himself.
A Chronicle news crew arrived at the scene at about 9AM and found the deceased in the passenger seat of a Cernol Chemicals vehicle with a plastic bottle, believed to have contained the substance that killed him, by his side.

Police attended to the scene.
Bulawayo acting police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the incident and said the deceased’s body was found at 6.20AM by Hupenyu Nyetserai who was reporting for duty.

Nyetserai reported for duty at 6.20AM only to find the gate locked.
He knocked on the gate but there was no response. “He then called the company’s security supervisor, Peter Muchaka, who advised him to jump over the gate to investigate. Nyetserai found the deceased naked in the company vehicle.

 

“At about 7AM Nyetserai and Muchaka jumped over the gate and attended the scene before calling the police,” said Asst Insp Ncube.
Asst Insp Ncube also said there was a plastic cup containing water in another vehicle and the guard’s uniform was also found on the ground next to the vehicle.

“The deceased reported for duty on Monday at 17.25PM and was in good health. It is believed that the deceased first entered a Mazda pick-up at the premises and this is where the plastic cup was found. He then exited and took off his uniform before entering a second company vehicle which was parked in front of the Mazda pick-up,” Asst Insp Ncube said.

Philip Nyakudziwanza, the company’s general manager, said the incident was unfortunate but declined to comment further on the matter, pending police investigations.

“This is an unfortunate incident and we are still waiting for police to finish their investigations. We will only be in a position to give an informed comment after police finish their investigations,” said Nyakudziwanza.

Asst Insp Ncube said investigations are underway to establish what was inside the cup and the bottle.
“We are treating this as a case of sudden death and investigations are under way to ascertain what was inside the plastic bottle and the plastic cup,” said Asst Insp Ncube.