Maravi

3 ZNS trainees die in training

3 ZNS trainees die in training
By Mwala Kalaluka and Kombe Chimpinde
Sat 08 Sep. 2012, 10:29 CAT

THE Zambia National Service command has dispatched several of its health personnel to Kabwe Training Camp following the death of three recruits during military training over the last two weeks, according to sources.

And a relative of Rosalyn Chanda, one of the recruits who died in the course of training at the ZNS camp, insists that the deceased was severely beaten and starved by the instructors prior to her demise.

Ministry of Defence sources told The Post yesterday that Chanda, 25 was the first recruit to die after she was admitted to Kabwe General Hospital, where

the other two were also later referred to.
"The matter was actually being dealt with by police officers at Prospect Police Station," the source said. "The girl was vomiting blood."

Other sources said the ZNS top brass had dispatched medical personnel from some of its other camps dotted countrywide to the Kabwe camp with the aim of attending to the recruits' health needs and to also carryout random medical tests on the over 600 recruits and those who were found unfit to continue with the training are being told to leave.

The sources said the ZNS medical personnel would be at the camp until around December when the recruits are expected to complete their training.

And Chanda's relative who sought anonymity said in an interview yesterday that although the postmortem examination conducted on Chanda did not establish the cause of death, it was clear that she died due to intense beatings.

The source said Chanda secretly complained of the beatings they were getting in a phone conversation with her relatives between July 20 and 22, 2012 and where she informed them that she had since been admitted to the Camp clinic for about four days as a result.

"You know when they are in there, they are disconnected from the rest of the world. They are not allowed to make calls but she managed to make a secret call to inform us that she was admitted on 22nd July 2012 a few days after she got in camp," the source said.

The source said Chanda complained of excruciating pain and swelling of the body.
"A week later, she was vomiting severely but they kept her, maybe because they were hiding the fact that she was severely beaten," the source wondered.
The source said on August 18, the family was shocked to receive information of Chanda's sudden death.

The source said a named lieutenant colonel who is the training commander, explained that Chanda had died after experiencing a health complication caused by twisting of her intestines and vomiting.

The source said the family learnt that Chanda had been admitted with the condition for a week and later evacuated to Kabwe General Hospital where she was pronounced dead within two hours of admission.

The source said a private meeting held with the pathologist that had conducted a postmortem on Chanda could not however confirm their suspicions over her death.
"I was told another guy in the camp had died in his sleep, while another girl had remained unconscious for two weeks in Kabwe General Hospital. I do not know if she is still alive," the source said.
The source said Chanda did not have a history of health complications and that she had gone through all the necessary health tests, including HIV before being incorporated in the training.

About 658 trainees where recruited in the routine ZNS training, whose training is strictly military.

ZNS director of public relations Lt Col John Ndhlovu said he had to gather the facts before he could deny or confirm that three recruits had died during training at the Kabwe camp.

Labels: ZNS

posted by MrK @ 4:54 PM