Lucky escape: men survive being swept away by river

EVERYONE at the accident scene agreed that Tsengeni Mutele and Mathintha Munyai from Bennde Mutale were the luckiest people on earth when they survived being swept away on their tractor by the Nwanedi river near Madimbo village, when it overflowed over the weekend.

The men miraculously survived their encounter with the raging river waters and local farmers tried in vain to pull the tractor out of the water.

Mutele, who was driving the tractor, explained what happened: “We were on our way to the farm when it happened. We pass over the bridge every day, and we never thought anything bad would happen.

“When we arrived at about 18:00 in the evening, we saw there was water flowing over the bridge, but we thought we could cross over although it was also drizzling”.

Mutele said he drove the tractor onto the bridge when a large wave of water started to sweep the tractor away. “We could feel that the tractor was no longer solidly on the ground. I tried to control it, but the water was too strong. It was clear that the tractor was going to roll and be swept away with us. Luckily there were some tree branches that trapped us and we were able to swim out of the water.”

Still in shock, Munyai said: “I still can’t believe what happened but I thank the Lord that I am still alive. We cross over this bridge; even during rainy days – but what happened today is a mystery. We have learnt the hard way that it is dangerous to cross a bridge if the water is overflowing. We are also happy that both of us were not injured during the accident”.