By SYLVIA MWEETWA and MOSES CHIMFWEMBE –
CHIPOLOPOLO defender, Nyambe Mulenga will miss the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals after fracturing his right leg in a fatal road traffic accident which claimed four lives in Kabwe yesterday.
Mulenga with two other players, Green Eagles goalkeeper Satchmo Chakawa and Under-17 midfielder Changwe Kalale, called by coach Honour Janza for preliminary AFCON preparations, sustained serious injuries after a head-on collision involving a Zesco United executive bus and a Toyota Prado near Green Restaurant in Kabwe on the Great North Road.
The Zesco bus, which had nine people on board, was taking the three players to Lusaka to join the local Chipolopolo squad to kick-start the AFCON preparations.
Central Province police commissioner, Standwell Lungu said the accident happened around 11:00 hours after the driver of the Prado coming from Lusaka lost control and hit into an oncoming Zesco’s Toyota Hiace registration number ABX 5368.
Lungu said three people in the Prado registration number ABM 7586, and the Zesco driver, Mwiza Ndovi died on the spot while eight others were admitted at Kabwe General Hospital.
The Prado driver, a bishop from Pilgrim Church in Lusaka, sustained serious injuries while his wife and two daughters were killed on the spot.

• A MANGLED Zesco United executive bus and Toyota Prado (inset) which collided on Great North Road in Kabwe yesterday and left four people dead. Others who included Chipolopolo defender, Nyambe Mulenga (right) sustained injuries.

Mulenga, who played a crucial role in the Chipolopolo’s AFCON qualifiers, sustained serious injuries, which could rule him out of the continental football showpiece in Equatorial Guinea next month.
Kabwe General Hospital medical superintendent, George Chipulu said most of the accident victims had fractured their legs and hands.
Chipulu said the healing process for most of the victims could take up to six months.
Central Province Permanent Secretary, Edwidge Mutale, who visited the victims in hospital, said it was saddening that accidents  had continued claiming lives. She wished the injured a quick recovery.
Mutale advised motorists to observe traffic rules always, especially this festive season.
Sports Council of Zambia (SCZ) chairperson, Mwamba Kalenga, who also visited the victims, expressed sadness with the accident and wished them a quick recovery.
Several sports enthusiasts who included Chipolopolo assistant coach, Chintu Kampamba and Kabwe Warriors coach, Mohammed Fathy also rushed to the accident scene and hospital.
Meanwhile, the Chipolopolo squad comprising locally based players is expected to start preparations in Lusaka today with Janza expected to name his foreign based players next week before the team shifts its training camp to South Africa.
The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has also clinched a friendly match with South Africa to be played on January 4 as part of the AFCON preparations that starts on January 17 to February 8 in Equatorial Guinea.