A man in his early 30s, identified as Chifundo Magombo, tragically died after being hit by a train in Somanje Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Kapeni, in Chileka, Blantyre.

Chileka Police Public Relations Officer, Jonathan Phillipo, confirmed the incident occurred yesterday. A cargo train, number D420, operated by Elson Chisangwi, 36, from Tapani Village in T/A Makwangwala, Ntcheu District, was en route from Limbe to Balaka when the accident happened.

“Upon reaching Somanje Village, Chisangwi spotted an object about 60 meters ahead and applied the emergency brakes. Unfortunately, it was too late to avoid impact,” Phillipo explained.

Magombo sustained multiple fractures and was rushed to Kadidi Health Centre by police and Nacala Logistics representatives but was pronounced dead on arrival.

A postmortem revealed that the cause of death was hemorrhagic shock due to multiple fractures and traumatic brain injury. Authorities also reported that Magombo, who was mentally unstable, was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident.

The deceased hailed from Ching’amba Village, T/A Kapeni, in Blantyre.