A YOUNG girl heroically lost her life yesterday trying to free her young sister from electrocution in Luanshya’s Mpatamato Township.
The 11-year old girl attempted to free her sibling aged six from a tap with running electric current but ended up losing her own life.
The death of the bubbling girl has caused untold grief in the neighborhood.
According to witnesses, Blessings Shula had rushed to save her sibling, Charity Musonda who attempted to quench her thirst by turning on the tap to drink water but was zapped by an electric current flowing through the tap.
The day started like any other Sunday, laughter bubbled from children playing while their parents rushed them to stop and get ready for church as the mothers prepared food and cleaned the houses in a haste.
But at house number 270/25,there was an electrical fault which prompted the family to report and the Zesco crew spent the morning fixing the issue which was discovered to be an underground problem around 10:00 hours.
So the family went to church, leaving the Zesco crew on site who dug a certain area where cables pass about 5 metres away from the house.
The family later returned finding no Zesco employees on site and assumed everything was fixed.
However around around 18:00 hours loud screams were heard from the outside Janet Chewe, the grandmother to the girls rushed to see what was happening to find her grand daughters being taken away by the electric current.
It is reported that Charity skipped towards the tap outside the house as a thirst for cool water etched on her small face.
But the water never quenched her need – It became a conduit of death, a scream tearing through the twilight as Charity’s tiny body convulsed under its deadly grip.
Blessings, ever the protector, saw her sister’s struggle and rushed in as a shield against the invisible enemy.
But the current, claimed them both, their screams turned into whispers, then silence, under golden hue of the sunset.
When Chewe saw that, she screamed, alerting the neighbours who descended upon the scene making frantic efforts, desperate to extinguish the electrical fire that devoured lives.
With a flick of a switch as they switched of the breakers in the house, the current stopped flowing and the children were freed, but the damage was done.
Peacewell Mweemba, the Copperbelt Police Commissioner confirmed the death.
“The two juveniles were already unconscious (at the time they were rescued). They were rushed to the clinic in section 25, where unfortunately one passed,” said Mweemba.
Mweemba revealed that the six year old Charity was stable but her hero Blessings had passed.
“The body was picked and deposited to Roan Hospital Mortuary awaiting postmortem while an Inquiry File Docket has been opened,” Mweemba added.
By Moses Makwaya
Kalemba January 29, 2024
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