EVEN before three survivors of the horrific Karatu road accident are airlifted to the US for specialised treatment, another tragedy has hit Arusha, killing five people of the same family.
Arusha Regional Medical Officer Timothy
Wonanji said the three children, still in the Intensive Care Unit, were
gradually improving but some need advanced treatment and reconstruction
surgeries, hinting that doctors from the United States have offered
assistance.
The medics with the Siouxland Tanzania
Educational and Medical Ministries (STEMM) have offered to airlift the
three Standard Seven pupils at Lucky Vincent school from Mount Meru
Hospital in Arusha for referral treatment in America.
The foreign doctors were the first to
arrive at the scene of the crash and help in the rescue mission during
the accident that occurred at Rhotia Hill last Saturday morning,
claiming the lives of 32 pupils, two teachers and a driver.
The medics, accompanied by Singida North
Member of Parliament Lazaro Nyalandu, were on their way from Ngorongoro
to Arusha when they came across the grisly accident.
The doctors, currently still in Arusha,
had decided to take the three victims to the US after their audience
with Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan who visited the children at
their hospital beds here on Monday.
Ms Samia visited the three children who escaped death when their school bus crashed in Karatu last weekend.
Admitted to Mount Meru Hospital are
13-year old Doreen Mshana from Olasiti area who remains in comatose;
11-year old Sadia Ismail Awadh and a boy, Wilson Geoffrey Tarimo (11),
both residents of Kwa-Mrombo.
Formed by John Gerdts and Michael Boose,
with the help of Mr Nyalandu, the STEMM offers education, medical and
humanitarian assistance to African children.
Meanwhile, five people of the same
family died here yesterday following a huge tree that crushed the house
in which they were sleeping.
According to Ngoita Area Chairman Sadick
Joseph, the incident occurred in the early hours of yesterday morning,
when the falling tree bounced on the house that had seven occupants that
night. Two of the deceased were students.
The departed, all members of the same
family, are Juliet Jonathan, Best Jonathan, Miriam Jonathan, Glory
Jonathan and Lazaro Lomnyaki.
Miriam and Glory were both at Enaboisho
Secondary and Arusha-based Primary school, respectively. Arusha Regional
Police Commander Charles Mkumbo confirmed the deaths, adding that the
bodies had already been pulled out of the debris and taken to Mount Meru
Hospital mortuary.
A storm that wreaked havoc in many parts
of Arusha region last Monday night caused a landslide in the Ng’ilesi
section of Kivesi Hill of Sokon-One Ward in Arumeru District and during
the incident, a number of trees fell down, one of them crushing the
house in which the victims were sleeping.
It took several hours of hard labour
yesterday for local villagers to saw the huge trunk of tree to pieces
before they could pull the dead bodies from the debris that were glued
together with thick sticky mud.
The parents were reportedly away, the
father, Mr Jonathan Kalambuya, was on duty as he works as night watchman
in Arusha, while his wife, Mrs Kalambuya, had gone to a neighbouring
house to assist a close relative who had just delivered a baby.
One of the victims, Mr Lazaro Lomnyaki,
had been sent round to the house that night to take care of the premises
because the parents were away.
This is how he met his death. The
District Executive Director, Dr Wilson Charles Mahera, said that was the
first serious landslide to ever occur in the area, adding that three
houses were destroyed and the road leading to the location had been
washed away by floods.
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