16 Jan 2025

Multitudes of Lobatse residents thronged a level crossing near Lobatse State Prison after a truck transporting sugar from eSwatini to Gaborone collided with a train on Wednesday.

In an interview, Lobatse Police assistant superintendent Thembani Tulu said the police received an incident report on Wednesday afternoon that a truck had collided with a locomotive, whereupon they and other security forces, together with other relevant departments immediately rushed to the scene.

Assistant Superintendent Tulu said the Gaborone-bound truck was travelling from the eastern side of the town heading west.

She said the driver reported that he did not see the approaching train behind him as he moved along with the traffic ahead of him.

At that point, the moving train hit the truck and hooked its rear trailer causing the truck, which carried 36 tonnes of sugar, to spill 11 sugar bags on the road, three of which got severely damaged.

Meanwhile, she said there was a slight scratch on the train while the truck was dented on the rear trailer, but that there were no casualties recorded as the truck driver escaped without any serious injuries.

Assistant Superintendent Tulu expressed concern over the rising number of truck incidents recorded in Lobatse, which she noted disrupted the flow of traffic along the town’s roads.

Cautioning truck drivers not to proceed through the town when experiencing challenges with their trucks, she revealed that in the morning of the same day, another truck was stuck in the middle of traffic.

She said on Monday the police deployed security to look after another truck, which was stuck on the road severely affecting traffic flow.

She also cautioned members of the public against rushing to truck accident scenes to scavenge for items, saying doing so put their health and safety at risk. ENDS