Company director charged with culpable homicide

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A DIRECTOR of a Bulawayo firm appeared in court yesterday facing a culpable homicide charge following a fatal accident that occurred at his company in November 2007.

A DIRECTOR of a Bulawayo firm appeared in court yesterday facing a culpable homicide charge following a fatal accident that occurred at his company in November 2007.

BY SILAS NKALA

Samuel David Mawire, director of Bottom Armature Winding Company denied the charge when he appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Gladmore Mushove.

The charge arose after his employee, Fleriano Phiri, died on the spot after he was crushed by a rotating drum from a machine he was operating.

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A supervisor at the company, Levy Mugwagwa Dube, told the court that he was at work on the day in question when he was summoned by Mawire and ordered to drive to Mzilikazi Police Station to collect the police. Dube said he was not yet aware that Phiri had been crushed to death.

“I drove to Mzilikazi Police Station and on arrival I saw a metal box. They were talking about Phiri, saying that he had died,” Dube said.

“I then drove back to the company premises with the police and the metal box. I was very shocked to the extent I failed to even go and view his body,” he said.

Dube said the police, fire brigade and inspectors from the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) later inspected the area.

He said the body was taken to the Mpilo Hospital mortuary.

NSSA senior Inspector Makhunga Moyo said on investigating the premises, they discovered that Phiri had been crushed by the machine when his hand was trapped between a bare copper wire and the reel drum.

His body had been pulled and squeezed against the machine stand.

“We also found out that there were no safety measures to prevent the deceased from coming into direct contact with the rotating drum” added Moyo