A VICTORIA Falls City Council employee, Mr Alvin Mlilo is lucky to be alive after he reportedly fell about 15 metres down the gorges on the Zambezi River and fractured ribs and a thigh.
Mr Mlilo who landed on rocks below the cliff, also sustained a deep cut on the head.
An engineering department employee, Mr Mlilo was fishing in the gorges next to Lookout Café on Friday when the mishap happened.
Mr Mlilo slipped while trying to negotiate his way down the gorges to access a pool below Lookout Care near Rapid 3 at around 10pm.
He did not get help until Saturday morning when other fishermen spotted him and alerted residents through WhatsApp.
Mr Mlilo was later rescued by rafting guides who went down the gorges and carried him to the surface using a stretcher bed.
He was rushed to Victoria Falls Hospital and was yesterday transferred to Mpilo Central Hospital for specialiaed medical care .
Mr Mlilo’s wife Hilda, who was on her way to Bulawayo yesterday, said her husband fractured eight ribs on the left side and the left thigh.
“He is in pain and doctors said he fractured eight ribs and broke a hip. He also has a deep cut on the head which is yet to be stitched,” she said.
The city Town Clerk Mr Ronnie Dube said the local authority availed an ambulance to take Mr Mlilo to Bulawayo.
Mr Skinner Ndlovu, who led the rescue team, said it was not an easy job rescuing Mr Mlilo from the gorge.
He said rafting guides were mobilised to fetch him from the rocks in the gorge and carried him along the river upstream to where they managed to get him to the surface.
“He went fishing on Friday night and fell off the cliff as he walked around trying to reach a pool below Lookout Café. It happened around 10pm and we got a distress call on Saturday monring.
Mr Ndlovu said Mr Mlilo had bruises all over on the arms, back and chest and had fractured a leg .
“ We carried him from Rapid Number 3B upstream to Rapid 1 path and carried him up the gorge using a stretcher bed,” he said. – The Chronicle
