Mother Says She Had Premonition Before Gweru Kombi Fire That Killed Her Child

A mother who lost her child in the kombi fire in Gweru on Wednesday says she had an unsettling premonition of the tragedy earlier that morning.

Siphiwe Karingira said she woke up that day unable to shake off a disturbing dream in which she repeatedly saw herself tilling a maize field throughout the night.

Feeling uneasy, she shared the dream with her friend Nokuthula Ngwenya as the two prepared to start their day.

Neither of them knew that within hours they would receive devastating news that would change their lives forever.

Karingira’s son, Albert Chenamikumbi, and Ngwenya’s daughter, Alisha Loyo, both aged six, were among the seven pupils who died in a kombi fire near Matongo Primary School in Senga suburb, Gweru.

“On Tuesday night, going into Wednesday morning, I kept dreaming as if I was in a field, ploughing maize repeatedly. In the morning, I told Mai Amanda (Ngwenya) about it,” said Karingira, when speaking to the media on Thursday.

Karingira and Ngwenya are among the parents who lost children in the inferno after a kombi they were travelling in caught fire at around 1 pm.

Karingira said she works in the Central Business District, but on Wednesday, she felt too uneasy to go to work and decided to stay at home.

Speaking in a subdued voice, she frequently paused as she struggled to recount the events of that morning.

In some cultural beliefs, dreaming of tilling or preparing a field is often associated with death or the loss of a loved one.

Ngwenya said she even warned her friend after hearing about the dream, but neither of them could have foreseen the tragedy that would follow.

“She told me that she had dreamt she was tilling a field. I told her that from what I had heard, such dreams can mean death,” said Ngwenya.

“When I received the message about the accident, I immediately informed her. She did not believe me.”

The two women later travelled together to the scene, where their worst fears were confirmed.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi said on Friday that the driver, Malcolm Elvis Cook (22), and the conductor, Trinity Mudhenge (18), had been arrested and charged with culpable homicide.

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