POLICE yesterday claimed an explosion from a gas cylinder belonging to a vendor caused the stampede that killed 11 people at a prayer meeting in Kwekwe last week. BLESSED MHLANGA STAFF REPORTER The stampede occurred after the meeting of the Prophetic and Healing Deliverance (PHD) Ministries, that left thousands of people seriously injured had been blamed on police who allegedly fired teargas at the crowd.
According to the police, one Amos Muzeiwa (43) was using a gas cylinder to prepare food for sale at the venue.
“Amos Muzeiwa (43) was using gas bottles to cook fast foods such as sausages and sell to the public in the stadium,” police said in a statement.
“The gas cylinder leaked and burst as the crowd was about to leave the stadium. This contributed to the stampede which unfortunately led to the loss of life.”
Police also said they had established that only the main gate, normally used by vehicles and a smaller gate were opened by Kwekwe Council officials who handed the keys over to PHD ushers.
Other two gates remained locked by council authorities.
“We would also like to point out that the PHD event was a private function and police are not obliged to provide security on such activities,” the statement added.
“All police details that were on duty on that day had no tear smoke or baton sticks as had been previously alleged.”
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Meanwhile, Kwekwe Central and Mbizo MPs said they would tomorrow push Parliament to set up a commission of inquiry into the stampede.
In a graveside speech at the burial of Tamuka Chivasa (11), one of the five dead buried yesterday, Mbizo legislator Settlement Chikwinya said he had agreed with his Kwekwe Central counterpart, Masango Matambanadzo to move a motion for Parliament to establish a commission of inquiry.
“We have agreed to move a motion in Parliament to have a commission of inquiry when we sit on Tuesday, but not for the purposes of finding fault, but to look at what went wrong and how we could avoid such tragedies in future,” he said.
Matambanadzo appealed to people to stop whipping up emotions by peddling falsehoods and accusations concerning the tragic stampede.
He said those questioning the prophetic powers of PHD Ministries leader Walter Magaya should read the Bible before speaking too loudly.
