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Nqobile Tshili, Features Correspondent

SENIOR Pastor Pertunia Chiriseri of His Presence Ministries International is one of the few accident victims who lived to tell her tragic story after miraculously escaping death following a crashing accident that claimed her husband’s life on September, 16.

She escaped death with punctured lung, broken ribs and   knee following the accident that killed her husband Apostle Charles Chiriseri on the spot.

Snr Pastor Chiriseri was left unattended for about five hours raising public concerns over post-crash rescue reactions from emergency services.

“I sustained multiple injuries and it took five hours before I received attention, and I was bleeding internally. The first people to arrive at the scene were onlookers who were attracted by the big bang when the car finally landed on its roof. I could have died alone in the bush because no one knew how many people were in the car,” said Snr Pastor Chiriseri.

The accident occurred along the Bulawayo-Harare Road in Mbembesi, about 35KM from Bulawayo.

The Mbembesi stretch has become a death trap for many motorists due to the high prevalence of livestock on the roadside.

The Government working with traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe is working to fence the Bulawayo-Gweru stretch as a way of preventing livestock from straying into roads causing accidents.

The fencing of the highway has been welcomed by motorists but it is clear that this will not stop road accidents.

The police have said most accidents are caused by human error.

The motorists said fast reactions by emergency services will play a major role in saving lives during post crash incidents.

However, people like Snr Pastor Chiriseri could have died due to the delays by the emergency teams in attending to her.

Motorists said the Government should put measures that ensure ambulances and fire brigade teams could respond in time to save people’s lives.

Mr Ignatius Ndlovu from Bulawayo’s Romney Park suburb who escaped death in November said his car crashed and he did not know which emergency line to contact.

He said the country does not have a well advertised emergency line that people can call if tragedy befalls them.

“What is our emergency line, for America we know that its 911 but what is the country’s emergency line that one can contact following an accident or any disaster so that we could be attended to in time?” quizzed Mr Ndlovu.

“It’s important for motorists to know the emergency lines so that in case of mishaps rescue teams can attend them as soon as possible.”

Another motorist, Mr Gugulami Katsholo saidalthough it is inevitable for accidents to occur accident but reaction to them can change the fate of mishap victims.

He said for example Bulawayo Fire Brigade Department and Ambulance services are known to travel 100KM to attend to accident victims.

“Can you imagine you’re in Shangani and an accident occurs where victims need to be taken to a hospital. There are no ambulance services from within toattend to accidents scenes. Most of the time rescue teams come from Bulawayo. We’ve heard of cases where people could have survived but their chances of surviving diminish due to distances and delays in attending to them,” he said.

His sentiments were echoed by Bulawayo Chief Fire Officer Mr Richard Peterson who said his fire ambulance department is under pressure as it is supposed to serve almost the whole Southern part of the country during accidents.

“In most cases you’ll find out that in major incidents involving a bus or a kombi where they’re many casualties we’ve to respond as far as Plumtree to assist them.

“Along Victoria Falls Road we’ve to respond as far as Hwange…in Harare road we respond up to Shangani by sometimes we go beyond Shangani assisting Gweru if they want our services,” said Mr Peterson.

“It’s very unfortunate that the whole southern region depends on Bulawayo for emergency response. I do agree lives could be saved other could be lost because we delayed going there because of the distance. In accidents people bleed and if they lose too much blood they eventually die. But if the distance was shorter we could be able to save that life,” said Mr Peterson.

Mr Peterson said the Ministry of Local Governance, Public Works and National Housing through its civil defence department has set up plans to set emergency teams in major high way centres along the high way.

“Ministry of Local government’s civil defence might be taking longer, but it has been planned that growth points like Shangani, and areas like Mbembesi have emergence response team. The response time will be shorter for instance if an accident happens in Ntabazinduna if you’ve emergence team stationed in Mbembesi will be approximately 10 minutes instead of waiting for a team from Bulawayo,” said Mr Peterson.

Deputy Director of the Civil Protection Unit Ms Sibusisiwe Ndlovu confirmed that her department was working on plans to have emergency responses substations in centres along the major Highways.

She, however, said funding remains the biggest challenge for this saying as far as she is concerned nothing will change in 2017.

“It’s part of our long term plans, it’s not something that we’re likely to do in 2017. I don’t see it happening in the foreseeable future,” said Ndlovu,highlighting that economic challenges remain their biggest strain.

TSCZ managing director Mr Obio Chinyere said his office has also received may concerns regarding the post-crash accident reactions.

“This is a concern we get from many motorists countrywide. We’re working with other stakeholders who are in a better position to address this problem,” said Mr Chinyere.

Hence, high prevalence of accidents on the country’s highways and local routes calls for motorists to exercise extreme caution for the avoidance of avoidable accidents.

Meaning motorists should ensure they abide by the rules of the road, make sure their vehicles are roadworthy.