Doom, fire kill six

By REBECCA
MUSHOTA, ESTHER NG’ANDU and SYLVIA MWEETWA –
TWO children have been killed and their mother left in critical condition at Lusaka’s University Teaching Hospital after consuming food suspected to have been laced with the pesticide, Doom.
In Solwezi, four members of the same family, including a 70-year-old, died from what Police said was suspected inhalation of toxic fumes from a brazier left burning as they slept.
Lusaka Police named the children killed in the suspected poisoning case as 21-month-old Dason Sikazwe and his five-year-old sister, Mwenche. Their mother was identified as Mirriam Mulenga. The tragedy happened on Tuesday evening in Matero Township.
A woman said to be the sister of the kid’s father discovered all three, apparently all still alive, but the children died as they were being rushed to Chingwere Hospital.

KATONGO

“The reason behind the act is not yet established, the mother’s condition is still critical. She is in the UTH, but we are investigating the matter,” police spokesperson Esther Katongo said in an interview yesterday. The children’s bodies are in the UTH mortuary.
In Solwezi, provincial police chief Auxensio Daka confirmed the death of four members of one family killed in what he said looked like a case of poisoning by charcoal fumes.
He said six other families survived.
The deceased were Chipanga Yona, 70, Mary Kameya, four, Yness Kameya, three, and Gift Mutemba, two, of Kandemba Township.
Those in hospital were Grace Yona, 56, Peter Mulonda, 22, Junior Kameya, nine, Jane Mbaya, 18, Ruidness Kameya, 22, and Charity Kameya, six years.
Meanwhile, an eight-year-old boy of Chainda Township in Lusaka survived an attack by assailants who slashed his throat using a knife.
Police spokesperson Esther Katongo said the incident happened around 20:40 hours in the Ibex Hill area.
She said the victim was found by a passerby who, upon interviewing him, narrated that he was attacked by unknown people who cut him on the throat using a knife.
The child was rushed to Levy Mwanawasa Hospital, where he was admitted and was later identified by his father as Gift Mumba.
Ms Katongo said one person had been apprehended in connection with the attempted murder and police were hoping to conduct an identification parade once the boy, said to be in stable condition, had recovered sufficiently.