Gen. Gapfizi’s death: Witnesses claim cyclist caused fatal crash

Details have started emerging about the nature of Brigadier General Dan Gapfizi’s fatal car crash that claimed five lives - including the General’s- on Tuesday.The deceased include the General’s driver, another occupant identified as Ferdinand Akumuntu, a lady identified as Therese Mukabasinga, a pedestrian and another man whose identities was not readily available by press time, but was reportedly on a bicycle.The accident occurred at 5.30pm between Karangazi and Kizirakome on the Kagitumba-Kayonza highway in Eastern Province.The only survivor was the General’s escort, who is currently admitted at Rwanda Military Hospital in a critical condition.Gapfizi, born in 1957 in Ruhango District, Southern Province, will be laid to rest today at Kanombe Military Cemetery in Kigali. The accident was caused by a pedestrian and a cyclist, according to eye witnesses.Ambrose Agaba, who described the accident as the worst he had ever seen, told The New Times yesterday that the General’s Land Cruiser vehicle first hit the pedestrian and then the cyclist before veering off the road.“A cyclist and a pedestrian were moving alongside each other seemingly chatting. The manner in which they moved suggested that one of them was on the road. The vehicle crashed into them before its driver lost control...it rolled down the road killing its occupants. It was a horrible accident.” According to Agaba, the deceased pedestrian was an office messenger at Karangazi Sector who was retiring home from work.Rescue efforts were carried out by an army helicopter and the General died enroute Kigali for treatment.“This is a busy highway (Kagitumba). You expect vehicles to be speeding and pedestrians to keep a distance. Unfortunately, people don’t take care and the accident could have been a result of such carelessness.”Emmanuel Rukera, the late Akumuntu’s neighbour, said the family was still struggling to come to terms with the tragedy. Akumuntu was a driver who worked with a number of government officials in the country. He was reportedly working with the National Electoral Commission by the time of his death.“Akumuntu was only 35 years, he is survived by two children...we are laying his body to rest today [yesterday] in Kanombe. His family is very close to me, which is why, I find myself in almost similar sad situation. He was a good friend of the late General,” Rukera said.Meanwhile, Superintendent Emmanuel Karuranga, the Eastern Province Police spokesman, urged all road users to be careful.“The spot where the accident occurred is flat, with gently sloping corners tricky for all road users. Pedestrians, drivers, cyclists, should be careful when using the road. There is a mobile police unit to monitor road safety as a result,” he said.Fourty-one accidents were reported in the Eastern Province between January and May 2013, according to Police.The 2012 police accidents report indicates that 308 lives were lost last year in road accidents in the country.May recorded the most deaths with 44 deaths followed by July with 42, while fewer deaths were recorded in June (23) and April (24).Thirty-three people have perished in road accidents in Eastern Province alone between August and October last year. Most accidents were blamed on negligence and speeding.Express taxis plying the Kigali-Nyagatare route have been cited as notorious for violating traffic regulations, where drivers take advantage of absence of traffic police in remote areas to abuse traffic rules…motorcycles carrying more than one person and without licenses.The Police regularly use Traffic Week to educate the public on traffic rules