700 cheat death as train kills 3 jumbos

Chronicle Reporters
April 15, 2009

MORE than 700 passengers miraculously escaped unhurt when a Bulawayo-bound train from Victoria Falls knocked down and killed three elephants on Sunday morning.

Grateful passengers hailed the train driver as a hero after he calmly steered the locomotive, averting disaster during the long Easter holiday that was characterised by a high death toll on the country’s roads.
The accident happened in the Bongoro area between Dete and Hwange’s Thompson Junction.
National Railways of Zimbabwe Public Relations Manager Mr Fanuel Masikati said no one aboard the train was hurt.
Witnesses, narrating the dramatic sequence of events, said a herd of about nine elephants was crossing the railway line when the train struck three of the jumbos.
“There were about nine elephants and the train struck two adult elephants and the third was a young one,” said a passenger.
The train did not derail but the locomotive was damaged and another had to be sent from Dete to continue with the journey.
“I would like to commend the train driver for remaining calm and managing to steady the train before it struck the animals as that avoided a catastrophic incident that would have claimed human lives,” said Mr Masikati.
Passengers, who should have arrived in Bulawayo at about 8am on Sunday, only reached the city around 7pm on Monday owing to the delay.
“The travellers were delayed because there was a need to bring another locomotive from Dete but I am happy to say that all the travellers arrived safely,” said Mr Masikati.
He said the accident did not affect operations as the Victoria Falls train has resumed business.
“The train has resumed its normal route and as I speak it is about to reach Victoria Falls,” said Mr Masikati yesterday morning.
Meanwhile, villagers in the western parts of Tsholotsho district are spending sleepless nights in their fields in a bid to scare away marauding elephants that are destroying crops.
At a meeting to discuss the operations of the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) in Ward 3 on Sunday, traditional leaders said elephants were wreaking havoc.
They said villagers were now being forced to spend nights in the fields and that they were getting no joy from the Tsholotsho Rural District Council, which was giving excuses when asked to assist.
The council authorities say they have a shortage of bullets to use and at the same time claim that they have limitations on the killing of the animals since they are covered under the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Mr Jericho Moyo, the CAMPFIRE manager, explained that CITES only allows for the killing of extremely troublesome animals and the villagers felt that authorities should have mercy on them given that their crops were being destroyed on a large scale by elephants wandering from the Hwange National Park.
“People who came up with the laws are based overseas where there are no problem animals like what we are experiencing on the African continent. Surely they are being oppressive to us because we are losing so much to these animals,” said a villager.
The acting Chief Mathuphula, Headman Mlevu, appealed to the powers-that-be to relax the laws regarding problem animals and appealed to the media to take the issue seriously because the jumbos were also a threat to human life.
He noted that recently, a villager, Mr Raphael Ndlovu of Mantshelengwa area, was attacked and injured by a lion that had troubled villagers and killed more than 10 cattle in the Mlevu area.
The lion attacked Mr Ndlovu as he was accompanying a hunter who had been engaged to track it down and shoot it.
Mr Moyo reminded the villagers that at one time, some villagers trapped and killed seven lions and that the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority investigators took him to task after some villagers had told the Parks Authority that he had given them permission to kill the lions.

that has been happening on that railroad line for years. one of the times when we were in that area it happened and an ele herd kept the railroad pretty much at bay for almost 3 days