Taxi driver shot dead, another man wounded in Chingola bar fight

A taxi driver was shot dead and another man seriously injured following a fight involving rival groups outside a bar in Chingola, police said. Copperbelt Police Commissioner, Mwala Yuyi, said the incident occurred around 2200 hours on Friday when three unidentified men who had been drinking beer at a grocery shop were confronted by Francis Mbale, 29. Yuyi said Mbale allegedly broke a beer bottle, insulted the group and engaged in a physical fight with one of the men.

During the altercation, one of the suspects reportedly pulled out a pistol from a waist bag and shot Gift Chilambe, a 30-year-old taxi driver, in the left side of the chest as he attempted to cross the road. Chilambe ran for about 70 metres before collapsing near a wall fence, Yuyi said. “Mbale was then shot in the head by the same armed suspect before the assailants fled the scene and bystanders from the bar, alerted by gunshots, discovered the victims,” he said.

Police patrol officers who responded to the scene found blood stains and two spent cartridges. Chilambe was pronounced dead at Nchanga North General Hospital, where his body was deposited in the mortuary pending a post-mortem examination. Mbale, who sustained a gunshot wound to the head, remains in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

[paywall]

Yuyi said police had opened dockets for murder and attempted murder and that investigations were underway, with no arrests made so far. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express permission from ZAMBIA MONITOR.

[/paywall]