Two feared dead in raging fast running rain water in Blantyre

Two people are feared dead in Blantyre after they were swept away by raging fast rain water following heavy down pour on Sunday.

They were washed away along with a bridge at Area 10 on Lunzu River in Machinjiri, Blantyre. 

The waters also swept away two vehicles, and member of Parliament for the area John Bande described as the worst flooding in the area in living memory.

Eye witnesses said the bridge got washed away together with the two unknown people who sought shelter in a bench near the bridge at around nine o’clock this morning following a night of heavy downpours in Blantyre.

One of the eyewitnesses said the two were believed to have been electrocuted after an electric pole near the bridge collapsed, making them fail to escape from the collapsing bridge.

Police are yet to confirm the two missing persons and their identities.

The development means people in Luwanda and surrounding areas such as Areas 1, 2, 3, 5, and 19, have to go around Magalasi Blantyre and then Limbe to access services or meet their colleagues residing in Makhetha, Khama, or Areas 7, 6 and 9 in Machinjiri.

Residents said since the construction of the bridge in the 1980s, this is the first time Lunzu River has swelled to the extent of overflowing.