Tragedy Strikes Chipinge’s Marega Village as Two Men Feared Dead In Underground Well
By Staff Reporter
Two men from Chipinge’s Marega village, under Chief Garahwa are feared dead following a disturbing incident that occurred late Thursday afternoon.
The unfortunate happened around 5 pm when Moses Mazihwayi, 39, who was diligently digging an underground well at his homestead, mysteriously failed to resurface.
In a frantic attempt to uncover the truth, his concerned wife sought the assistance of their neighbor and close friend, Lucky Dhliwayo, 38, who willingly descended into the dark depths of the well to investigate the baffling disappearance of Moses.
Tragically, neither of them emerged from the depths below.
The community was swiftly alerted, and neighbors rallied together to form a rescue team, driven by a desperate determination to save their fellow villagers and to gauge the situation within the treacherous well, an experiment was conducted: three live chickens were carefully lowered down at intervals.
The grim outcome left no room for hope, as all three chickens emerged lifeless, indicating the dire circumstances below.
The well’s depth was estimated to exceed 18 meters, compounding the complexity of the rescue mission.
An alarm was raised, summoning the District Development Coordinator and ZRP Chisumbanje to assemble a specialized rescue team.
Meanwhile, Greenfuel Pvt Ltd responded promptly to the distress call with Merit Rumema, the company spokesperson confirming their commitment to the rescue effort by dispatching an excavator.
“We received a request for assistance from ZRP about an hour ago. We are dispatching an excavator to aid in the rescue,” stated Merit Rumema.
The tragedy has cast a dark cloud over Marega village, with Mr. Jerry Moyana, a member of the community rescue team, expressing deep concern about the alarming frequency of such incidents in the relentless quest for clean water.
“Zvinorwadza kuti tinotamikirwa ngevanumuzana vepamuzi veitsvaka mvura yekumwa nekushandisa (It is painful that we are losing many lives in the community who are searching for clean water),” lamented Mr. Jerry Moyana.
Situated in ward 28 of Chipinge South, along the border with Mozambique, Marega village remains plagued by water scarcity issues, forcing villagers to resort to the risky practice of digging underground wells on their own homesteads in pursuit of access to potable water.
Efforts to get a comment from Manicaland Police spokesperson were fruitless.
