Zambia: A 26-year-old woman has died after being buried alive in a pit of earth. The deceased was trying to remove building stones from a pit in the Mufumbwe District of North-Western Province.
The deceased has been identified as Betty Musheli of Kazhingu Village in the Chawama area of Chief Chizela’s Chiefdom. As per the officials investigating the case, the deceased breathed her last on January 22, 2024, at around 11:00 hours.
At the time, she was extracting building stones in a pit near Mufumbwe’s Farmers Training Centre (FTC). Febby Kamangala, who is the sister of the deceased, said Betty Musheli went to extract building stones around 09:00 hours.
She was accompanied by some other members of the community before the incident happened. “My sister Betty Musheli went with others to dig stones at the usual pit where we have been digging building stones for years before the earth fell on her around 11:00 hours,” she said.
Kamangala explained that her sister has left two daughters, a seven-year-old and a one year-eight months old baby.
The sister to the deceased further said Betty had been taking care of her two children at the time of her death as she was divorced.
In light of the information, Mufumbwe District Commissioner Elijah Munyompe has bemoaned the death of a young mother. The official shared his deepest condolences to the grieving families
Munyompe said it is very painful to lose a person in such a manner, especially when government has provided other ways to equip youths with livelihoods like loans and grants through CDF and Marketeer booster loans.
“It is very sad to lose a young person in this way, especially when government has provided money for youth and women empowerment. This is the reason why we have civic leaders and the traditional leadership to inform and educate people on how to access these monies,” he said.
The DC said he would consult stakeholders to ensure that the pit is buried and that people are stopped from extracting building stones from the area.