Mutoko man crashed by big rock while at work, dies instantly

KNOWLEDGE Jeke, of Zano Village in Mutoko, struggles to hold back tears and stammers at every turn as he narrates how his brother, Brighton, died at the Natural Stone Export Company recently.

Brighton was crushed by a rock while he was at work at the company, where he had been employed for the past 19 years.

He was 46.

During tea time, Brighton was seated with two workmates under a shade, when disaster struck.

“He was watching videos from his phone when a stone from the roof of the shade broke into two pieces and crushed him resulting in his death.

“His remains were then taken to the mortuary. 

“I then realised that part of the remains, such as his brain and some flesh were still there, and I approached the company to collect them.

“It was not an easy situation for us as a family,” said Knowledge.

He said the saddest and hardest part came with collecting leftover tissue, something which showed him that his brother went through a painful death.

Knowledge believes that in as much as it was an accident, the company was probably negligent.

“Yes, it was an accident but since they realised that the stone had a crack they did not care to replace it.

“When they also realised that the roof was leaking they covered the top with sand which could also have triggered the stone to fall,” he said.

Some of the mourners also echoed similar sentiments.

Knowledge said the company promised to send his late brother’s kids to school.

“We went there asking how they are going to compensate the family and they said nothing much could be done by the company except sending the kids to school up to their final secondary school levels.

“They encouraged us to engage NSSA,” he said.

Efforts to get a comment from the company were unsuccessful.

hmetro