Three City of Harare employees have been arrested in connection with the deaths of three residents who drowned after falling into a sewage-filled drainage pit in Budiriro.
City of Harare spokesperson Stanley Gama confirmed the arrests, saying the suspects are facing culpable homicide charges and are expected to appear in court on Friday.
The tragedy occurred on Sunday, 7 June 2026, in Budiriro 3, where three people lost their lives after falling into an open trench allegedly left unattended by council workers.
What began as an effort to rescue a 19-year-old man quickly turned into a grim recovery operation led by veteran diver Victor Kazembe, popularly known as Coach Rambo, who risked his life to retrieve all three bodies from the hazardous pit.
Saul Karakadzai, 19, was walking home from nearby shops with a friend at around 6 pm when he stepped onto what appeared to be solid ground. Unaware that the surface concealed a sewage-filled trench, he plunged into the pit, which measured about three metres deep and seven metres long.
His friend and nearby residents tried desperately to pull him out using tree branches, but their efforts were unsuccessful as the thick sludge made movement almost impossible.
Police officers and members of the Harare Fire Brigade attended the scene but were unable to reach the victim because the trench was unstable and conventional oxygen equipment could not function properly in the sewage.
Kazembe later volunteered to enter the pit despite the significant risks involved. Carrying an oxygen tank only as a precaution, he descended into the sludge in what he later described as a sacrifice to ensure the victims could be recovered and laid to rest with dignity.
The operation stretched for several hours into the early hours of Monday morning as anxious residents watched from the sidelines.
During his first dive, Kazembe recovered the body of a 16-year-old girl who is believed to have gone missing while walking to nearby shops on Sunday evening.
His second dive brought up the body of an older man whose presence in the pit had not previously been known.
On his third and final dive, Kazembe recovered the body of Karakadzai, the teenager whose fall into the trench had triggered the rescue mission.
Related:
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