By MOFFAT CHAZINGWA and BRIAN HATYOKA –

A TOTAL of 50 assault cases were recorded at Kitwe Central Hospital (KCH) during New Year celebrations.

KCH acting public relations officer Chizongo Tembo said the institution was overwhelmed with the cases of assault recorded from the eve of New Year and the first day of 2014.

“This festive period from the eve of the New Year and this morning (yesterday) we have recorded a total of 50 cases of assault,” she said.

Ms Tembo said the hospital within the same period also had two cases of road traffic accidents and one rape case.

“This is really straining on the part of the institution, you can imagine attending to 54 cases within a period of one day,” Ms Tembo said.

And eight minors who engaged in unruly behaviour on the New Year’s Eve in

Livingstone have been released, Southern Province Police Chief Charity Katanga has said.

Ms Katanga said in an interview yesterday that the victims were released after they paid the admission of guilt fees.

She said out of the eight minors arrested, four were males while the other four were females.

The Police rounded up some youths in the central business district of Livingstone for engaging in disorderly behaviour during New Year celebrations.

Most youths, who were acting under the influence of alcohol, blocked motorists on Mosi-oa-tunya Road as they celebrated wildly.

They broke bottles of beer on some parts of the road in the town centre

.