BOY’S LEFT HAND AMPUTATED

SITEKI - An 11-year-old boy has had his left hand amputated after he was run over by a train near Lubhuku on Tuesday afternoon.
*Jabulani Smith, a Grade IV pupil, is currently recuperating at Good Shepherd Hospital children’s ward following the unfortunate incident.

According to the boy’s mother *Sibongile, the boy had gone to look after cattle at the area’s grazing land when the accident occurred.
She said while the boy was looking after the cattle he became bored to an extent that he decided to take a nap next to the railway line, but not on the railway line.
“But unfortunately for him, while he was asleep he extended his left hand onto the railway line and when the train came by, it ran over his hand crushing it in the process.

When I asked him this morning about the accident he told me that he did not hear the train coming since he was deep in sleep,” the deeply saddened mother said.
After the accident the boy is reported to have run towards his homestead’s direction while holding his injured hand.

The train is reported to have stopped a distance from the accident scene and the driver is said to have called the police who promptly arrived and rushed the boy to hospital.
A source said the train was coming from the Lavumisa direction and was headed for Mpaka Railway Station.

It was gathered that the accident happened not far from the spot where a train derailed last Friday spilling magnetite mineral on the ground and further damaging the railway line.
Meanwhile, this was the second time in less than a year that a train has run over a person. In June last year, a nine-year-old boy lost a leg after he was run over by a train near St Philips. The nine-year-old was reported to have been playing on the railway line with his friend when a train came by.

It was reported that he fell and he tried to run away, and as a result the train ran over his leg in the process. On another note, attempts to get a comment from Swaziland Railway Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Stephenson Ngubane were not successful as his phone was on voicemail mode when called yesterday afternoon.
*Not their real names

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: