BULAWAYO – Three people including a 14-year-old girl have been killed in a landmine explosion in Binga, believed to be a leftover from the 1970s independence war.
The landmine was detonated after a Binga Rural District Council with six people onboard ran over it.
Information secretary Ndavaningi Mangwana said the incident happened at Sebungwe Narrows in Simatelele under Chief Siachilaba on Wednesday.
“The explosion killed a 14-year-old girl on the spot and two men passed away in transit to Binga Rural District Hospital,” Mangwana said in a brief statement on Friday.
“The de-mining team from the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) is on the ground checking for other landmines within the premise.”
Mangwana said the landmine was on the edges of the road connecting Mabwe and Sebungu Narrows.
“It seems it was always being missed by a few inches, as its location was just close to the traffic tracks,” he revealed.
The landline was not recently planted but is a “wartime legacy,” he assured.
Most landmines from the war have been demobilised but some were missed and remain active. Experts say they pose a danger for as long as they remain intact, which can be many decades after a conflict ended.
