• THE aftermath of hailstorms that left a trail of destruction in Kitwe, Ndola and Kasama. Ndola’s Cabinet Office
vehicles were not spared. Pictures by Stephanie Kunda

By MUSONDA MANGILASHI, STEPHANIE KUNDA and ESTHER NGANDU –
A  STORM hit parts of the Copperbelt on Thursday causing damage worth thousands of Kwacha after two telecommunications towers came crashing down in Kitwe and Ndola.
Five GRZ vehicles were damaged, some massively, when the tower fell over the parking lot at Ndola’s Cabinet Office, which houses the provincial government offices.
In Kitwe, offices at the Central Police station were left badly damaged while in Ndola a heavy evening downpour crashed hundreds of kg of steel on five motor vehicles parked at the Cabinet office as a telecommunications tower came down.
The heavy rain caused a power blackout in Ndola’s Central Business District (CBD) and also caused serious damage to other infrastructure.
In the Kitwe incident, the collapsing tower caused extensive damage to the office block.
Kitwe District Police Commanding Officer Edwin Chisi, said, thankfully, there were no fatalities.
Kitwe District Commissioner Binwell Mpundu has, meanwhile, called on the business community to come to the aid of the station, saying that the Police Service cannot do it alone.
Mr Mpundu said the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) may not help, hence the need for the business community to attend to the damaged roof.
He said that most Government installations were built a long time ago and they needed attention.
In a Facebook post, Copperbelt Permanent Secretary Elias Kamanga said the storm caused a lot of damage to the city and that five vehicles at Cabinet Office were also extensively damaged.
He said several other shops and buildings in the city also had their roofs blown off while many trees along the roads had been uprooted.
Ndola City Council public relations manager Tiliyenji Mwanza said fire fighters had gone to the scene to clear the uprooted trees which had covered many roads, including the main ones.
Ms Mwanza said the DMMU tower at Cabinet Office collapsed which led to damage of five ministerial vehicles.
Meanwhile, rain has left a trail of destruction at five learning institutions in Kasama District, Northern Province, Kasama District Commissioner Kelly Kashiwa has said.
Mr Kashiwa said the incident happened yesterday following a heavy downpour experienced in the district which destroyed property worth millions of Kwacha.
Mr Kashiwa said five learning institutions had their roofs blown off and walls damaged and various education materials destroyed.