A JOYOUS political gathering turned into a heartbreaking tragedy on Friday when a baby was crushed to death during a wild stampede sparked by a scramble for money allegedly thrown by Livingstone Mayor Constance Muleabai.
It all began when UPND youths concluded their rally in the tourist capital at Maramba Stadium.
As speeches ended and the crowd began to scatter, Muleabai who was part of the rally, allegedly climbed into her vehicle and instead of quietly driving off, she reportedly began tossing party regalia and the fresh, crispy K10 notes out of her car window as her vehicle pulled away.
What began as cheers of excitement quickly descended into chaos with dozens of people abandoning all sense of order and sprinting after the fluttering greenish notes, shoving, pulling and trampling anything in their path, including a small child who had been clinging to its mother’s chitenge.
Witnesses say the baby slipped from its mother’s arms amid the violent shoving.
And before she could reach him, the child was swallowed by the stampede.
According to eye witnesses, the scene was one of a horror movie where some people tried to shout for people to stop, but the desperation for money drowned every cry.
By the time the crowd noticed the lifeless body lying on the ground, it was too late.
It is reported that a man identified as Clayton from the crowd quickly scooped up the child and rushed it to the hospital where doctors fought to save it, but the injuries were too severe for it to survive.
The child was later pronounced dead, its life ending not by disease but by the reckless hunger stirred up by a political figure’s stunt.
In a video circulating online, Clayton revealed that contrary to what the police are saying that it was party regalia that people were fighting for, the truth of the matter is it was money which was tossed by the mayor that caused the stampede.
He said news of the baby’s injuries spread like wildfire among the crowd and the mood turned from excitement to fury and crowd started stoning the vehicle of the mayor.
“I received this woman. I was the one who This child was crushed by people. When the mayor was tossing money, people started scrambling for it and the child fell into the mother’s chitenge and people stepped on the child’s head and that’s how the child was crushed and fainted,” said Clayton.
“I then rushed the child to the hospital and when I was taking him there, he was alive but died after a short while.”
It is alleged that furious rallygoers turned on Muleabai’s vehicle, hurling stones and insults at it with some managing to break into the car, stealing valuables before the mayor’s convoy could whisk her away from the angry mob.
And police have confirmed the death of the child.
“An inquiry file has been opened, and investigations have been instituted into the matter,” said Southern Province Commissioner Auxensio Daka.
By Catherine Pule
