A high voltage transformer at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) yesterday barbecued a Lusaka youth, instantly turning him into a barely-breathing smoked pile of charcoal black meat.
According to eyewitness accounts, Moses Mwila, of Misisi became a painful part of the electricity grid after he attempted to steal cables and oil from a UTH transformer which he believed was under load-shedding due to the absence of the usual humming noise.
However, so wrong was his assessment that as soon as he came within arms distance of the transformer, bolts of electrical energy leaped from the transformer straight to his thieving body.
All the people heard was a scream of ‘mayo!’ and the braii was over.
Mwila had been turned blue/black like a positive test for starch using iodine solution.
But for their kind hearts, the hospital upheld ethics and quickly resuscitated the thief who himself minutes ago had shown no care for the hundreds of lives admitted to UTH.
Medics attending to Mwila, who is admitted to ward G11, say he is stable and likely to be discharged soon.
However, the police were not as kind as the nurses; they have chained Mwila to the hospital bed to wait for justice after he heals.
UTH public relations officer Natalie Mashikolo has told Kalemba that Mwila has told medical personnel attending to him that on that fateful day, he had gone with other thieves, but they bolted immediately he was braiid.
Picture by Salim Dawood
Kalemba
