Truck catches fire, looted

By ROGERS KALERO A TRUCK carrying clothes, shoes and assorted goods worth millions of Kwacha was yesterday looted in Kitwe after it caught fire near MTN offices between Nkana West Residential area and the city Centre.

The truck believed from Tanzania, caught fire from the back and in the process, some call boys and Hawkers took advantage of the situation to loot the truck.

The goods were saved from being completely looted after the driver quickly decided to drive the truck to Kitwe Central Police Station.

Copperbelt Police Chief Charity Katanga confirmed the incident but said some goods were looted though quick action by the driver prevented the looters from completely plundering everything after he drove the truck to the police station.

"I don't have full details, but I can confirm that a truck believed from Tanzania was looted after it caught fire in Kitwe, but the driver had to drive the truck to the nearest police station after some goods were looted," Ms Katanga said.

And earlier, there was drama in the city centre when call boys, hawkers and other youths abandoned their businesses in the city centre to loot the truck.

A group of youths were seen running from Obote Avenue and other corners of the city heading to MTN where the truck had caught the fire.

The youths who took advantage of the absence of police officers at the scene, threw stones and all sorts of objects at whoever was trying stop them from looting.

Realising the danger, the driver quickly drove the truck to the nearest police station to save the goods from being completely looted.

While the driver was driving the truck to the police station, some youths were seen following the truck to make sure that they looted even the remaining assorted goods left in the truck.