No joy in Gweru River missing bodies search

SEARCH efforts by the Zimbabwe Republic Police's sub-aqua unit and the Gweru City Council to retrieve bodies of people swept away by a flooded river in Gweru since Monday have yielding nothing. Six people were allegedly swept away by floods while trying to cross the Gweru River bridge along the Gweru-Matobo Road on Sunday.

The search unit recovered two bodies on Monday, from a vehicle that was swept away trying to cross the Gweru River.

Midlands’ provincial police spokesperson Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko yesterday said there were no further recoveries.

“Only two bodies were recovered on Monday, but there have not been any further recoveries,” Mahoko said.

“We have been relying on the person who reported the matter to police that he saw six people in the car. The search unit was relying on that information to search for the remaining four bodies,” he said, adding that it was difficult to verify if indeed there were six people in the vehicle as no one had come to the police to report missing persons.

“Our greatest challenge is that no one has come forward to report missing persons, hence there is no second authentication that indeed there were six people in the Isuzu twin-cab,” he said.

He, however, appealed to members of the public, who might have information on missing persons, to report to the police.

Mahoko said people should desist from crossing flooded rivers as they risked losing their lives.

Meanwhile, officials from the Department of Civil Protection in most districts in the Midlands province have warned people against possible dam over-spills and flash floods, following incessant rains that pounded the province last week.

The Zimbabwe National Water Authority recently said most dams in the Midlands province had reached the 100% mark, adding that some of the dams were over-spilling.