A Midzi family in Mutare, Zimbabwe is lucky to be alive thanks to their 5-year-old daughter’s decision that saved them from a near-disastrous outcome.
Pictures of a haulage truck that crashed into a house while descending the Christmas Pass slopes circulated on social media on Wednesday.
Luckily, 5-year-old daughter, Kierra, who lives with her mother, Melania Midzi, in a house near the intersection of Robert Mugabe and Kumbirai Kangai (Aerodrome) roads, requested to sleep in the sitting room the night before the crash so she could watch cartoons.
This was miraculous as the main bedroom where Kierra and her mother usually sleep was destroyed completely by the truck.
“My little daughter is my angel. She insisted that we sleep in the sitting room; otherwise, both of us would have died,” said Melania Midzi Midzi, still shaken by the event.
She added that had her niece and domestic worker been home, the outcome could have been tragic as the spare bedroom where they normally sleep was also destroyed.
“If they had been around, we could have been talking of a different and sad story,” Midzi said.
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Initial reports had suggested that this was the 5th accident to happen at the house, however, it turns out its more than that.
The recent accident was the 18th road accident at the Midzi property since 2007. The family has been living in constant fear, repeatedly petitioning the Mutare City Council to relocate them to a safer area. Their pleas seems to have gone unheeded.
“We have written to them on many occasions, and it seems they want to act when someone has died first,” Ms. Midzi said in a frustrated tone.
The accident has prompted renewed calls for the swift construction of the alternative Christmas Pass Bypass route, which authorities say is in the works.
In response to the latest incident, Manicaland Provincial Affairs Minister Advocate Misheck Mugadza expressed sorrow over the family’s continued ordeal and assured that the government is working to address the issue.
“We are sorry to the Midzi family which has continued to face this kind of mishaps now and again. We can assure them that Government is working tirelessly to bring to an end such sad experiences.”
