Mozambique: Retired judge to head traffic accident inquiry – AIM

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Mozambique: Retired judge to head traffic accident inquiry – AIM

7:27 CAT | 15 Jul 2021

FILE - For illustration purposes only.Thhe traffic accident that killed 32 people on 3 July, at Maluana, in the southern district of Manhica. [File photo: O País]

The Mozambican government has appointed a retired judge from the Administrative Tribunal, Jose Estevao Mutchini, to head the Commission of Inquiry investigating the causes of the traffic accident that killed 32 people on 3 July, at Maluana, in the southern district of Manhica.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, after the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers (Cabinet), the government spokesperson, Deputy Justice Minister Filimao Suaze, said the Commission of Inquiry also includes two members of the Order of Engineers, Lo Kam Chong and Domingos Guiamba, a member of the managing board of the Order of Doctors, Mario Jacob, and the Chairperson of the Mozambican Association of the Victims of Traffic Accidents (AMVIRO), Alexandre Nhamposse.

Suaze said the Commission has 30 days to draw up its report, which may also consider major accidents that occurred before and after the Maluana tragedy.

“We have been the stage for accidents on the roads that have brought misfortune to many families”, he said. “There is a range of material that must be taken into account by the Commission of Inquiry”.

The Maluana accident happened at about 19.00 on 3 July on the main north-south highway (EN1), involving a bus, owned by the company Nhancale Transport, travelling from Beira to Maputo. The bus attempted to overtake a truck carrying construction sand, at a point in the road where it is clearly marked that no overtaking is permitted.

The bus smashed head on with an articulated lorry travelling in the opposite direction. In a desperate attempt to return to the correct lane, the bus also hit the truck it had been overtaking.

31 bus passengers died on the spot, and 11 seriously injured people were taken to Maputo Central Hospital where one subsequently died.

It is known that there was only one driver on the bus. By road, Beira is over 1,200 kilometres from Maputo, and even under good conditions the journey would take over 16 hours. It is thus more than likely that the driver was suffering from fatigue.

Source: AIM