Six children are nursing fractures at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) in Malawi’s commercial city, Blantyre, after the vehicle they were travelling in on Christmas Day fell into a drain near Magalasi along the Old Chileka Road in Blantyre.
The vehicle, a Nissan half-tonne pickup, was reportedly carrying 23 children, according to Southern Region Police Headquarters spokesperson Nicholas Gondwa.
“The driver failed to negotiate a corner due to over-speeding. The 23 children on board were thrown out [of the vehicle],” he said.
Gondwa explained that six of the children suffered serious injuries, including fractures.
The rest, that suffered minor injuries such as bruises, were treated as outpatients, he said.
Gondwa said there were three accidents around Blantyre City on Christmas Day, including one where three people died after a minibus they were travelling in swerved and overturned at Mutuwambudzi in Chiradzulu.
A police vehicle was also involved in an accident when a gate at QECH unexpectedly swung open and in the process injured an officer, he said.
