14-Year-Old Girl Among Three Killed In Binga Landmine Blast
Three people, including a 14-year-old girl, were killed and three others injured when a landmine exploded near the Zambezi River in Binga’s Sebungwe area on Wednesday afternoon. The victims were travelling in a Binga Rural District Council vehicle.
Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Ndavaningi Mangwana confirmed the incident on Friday via X, saying it occurred at Sebungwe Narrows in Simatelele, under Chief Siachilaba. He said:
The explosion killed a 14-year-old girl on the spot and two men passed away in transit to Binga Rural District Hospital.
The de-mining team from the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) is on the ground checking for other landmines within the premises.
Mangwana said the landmine was on the roadside connecting Mabwe and Sebungwe Narrows. He added:
It seems it was always being missed by a few inches, as its location was just close to the traffic tracks.
Mangwana said the landline was not recently planted, but rather a remnant from past conflicts, a “wartime legacy.”
According to the Chronicle, the Binga Rural District Council vehicle, carrying three council employees to Sebungwe, struck a landmine on its return journey.
The driver took an alternative route due to impassable mud on the main road. The explosion, which killed three and injured others, including passengers who had requested a lift, occurred on this detour.
The landmine is believed to be a remnant from the 1970s Rhodesian Bush War when an estimated 3 million anti-personnel mines were laid along Zimbabwe’s borders.
While most have been cleared, some remain active, posing a significant danger decades later.
Organizations like ZIMAC, HALO Trust, Mines Advisory Group, Norwegian People’s Aid, and APOPO are working to make Zimbabwe mine-free by 2025.
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