By Snodia Mawupeni| HURUNGWE- Three anti-poaching unit rangers who drowned in Rukomeshi river on Sunday afternoon had their cell phones with them, ZimEye.com can exclusively reveal.
Primary investigations show that the victims were one male and two females who work for an anti-poaching unit, Akashinga based in Nyamakate, Hurungwe Ward 7.
The trio as ZimEye reveals, have been identified as Former Tazman aged (35) Edzai Mhlanga aged (33) and Tendai Hungwe (25).
‘The three went for a photo session along Rukomeshi River, that is the boundary between Hurungwe and Zambezi escapement to Mana Pools where the incident occurred, ” a highly placed source told ZimEye.
They continued saying, “they were at a cliff (REDACTED REDACTED) when Mhlanga fell from the cliff and drowned.
“Tazman tried to rescue her but drowned and not much is known of how Hungwe drowned as well,” said the source speaking on condition that they are not named.
Another worker added that they used to have regular selfie photo sessions in the outlying areas as part of an anti-poaching unit within Hurungwe during weekends.
The trio drowned last Sunday afternoon and were only retrieved when members of the community teamed up with Makuti police, and officers from Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management in the early hours of Monday.
The accident left villagers shell shocked as they saw Tazman and Mhlanga bodies being ferried to Karoi for post mortem while Hungwe’s parents refused to have her ferried to the hospital.
“Hungwe’s relatives did not want to have her body ferried to Karoi saying no one will incur the transport costs and she will be buried in Nyamakate on Tuesday,” said a villager privy to the developments in the area.
Mashonaland West provincial spokesperson Inspector, Clemency Mabweazara was out of office to give an official comment over the matter.
He said, “I am sorry, I am out of office. I am in Harare and will only be back in office on Tuesday and no one can comment and I do not have details of the issue,”
The trio were among 35 rangers trained by Damien Mander, founder of International Anti-Poaching Foundation (IAPF) who is a former Australian special forces sniper.
IAPF has been part of an ecosystem conservation unit in Lower Zambezi.
They group are from disadvantaged women from the local community who include unemployed single mothers, sex workers, victims of sexual and physical abuse, widows and orphans who are the most vulnerable women.
The victims were undergoing training for patrolling, first aid, dangerous wildlife, human rights, safety and conservation ethics, among other anti-poaching methods so they end up working with the community to stop illegal wildlife crime.
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