Thursday 16 October 2014

Tanzanian kills two daughters in Australia

Sisters Indianna (3) and Savannah Mihayo (4) in happier times. Their father, Tanzanian resident in Australia Charles Mihayo (36), faces a life imprisonment after he pleaded guilty of murdering the two girls in Melbourne by suffocating them earlier this year. Story on page 4 . PHOTO | agencies 
By The Citizen Reporter and Agencies
In Summary
According to media reports in Australia, Charles Mihayo, 36, will be sentenced next month for the offence which carries a maximum of life imprisonment.
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Dar es Salaam. A Tanzanian resident of Australia faces a prolonged jail term after he pleaded guilty of murdering his two daughters aged three and four.
According to media reports in Australia, Charles Mihayo, 36, will be sentenced next month for the offence which carries a maximum of life imprisonment.
Mihayo admitted, in court, he had suffocated the children, Savannah, 4, and Indianna, 3 in Melbourne. He claimed he did not plan to kill his children but would not say why he did it, reported The Age.
The accused, appeared in court handcuffed and wearing a grey track suit and was remanded for a plea hearing on November 5.
With the guilty plea, he is likely to spend the rest of his life behind bars since the maximum penalty for murder in Australia is life imprisonment.
He was first arraigned in April for taking the lives of the little girls who were found dead at their grandmother’s home in Watsonia on Easter Sunday.
Australian media reported that Mihayo, flanked by three guards, appeared in the dock behind glass, usually reserved for unruly or high-risk defendants.
“Mihayo who was living in a granny flat at the back of the property (where the crime was committed), was married to the girls’ mother, but they separated about a year ago,” reported Herald Sun, adding that the arrangements for care of the girls was not known.
The overwhelmed mother of the girls said they will be “forever missed, loved, and never forgotten”, and added: “We are utterly devastated at the loss of Savannah and Indianna,” in a brief statement released by police.
But last week, details emerged how Mihayo had played hide and seek with the girls before smothering them with a pillow in the house.
“A prosecution summary tendered at an earlier Melbourne Magistrates’ Court hearing revealed Mihayo, a Tanzania national who is a permanent resident of Australia, told his estranged partner, the girl’s mother that he wanted to ‘say goodbye’ to the girls and ‘see them one last time’ so a meeting was planned for the following day,” reported The Age:
“The girls’ mother took them to see Mihayo, who lived in a self-contained unit at the back of her mother’s house at Watsonia, just after 2pm on Easter Sunday.”
Mihayo hugged the girls and asked how long he had with them before taking them inside. The ex-partner and her mother remained at the main house where they could hear the children playing, the paper reported.
After a short time the ex-partner and her mother noticed that the girls had gone quiet inside the house. The ex-partner went to the unit door and knocked. Mihayo said ‘wait a minute’ and the ex-partner knocked again calling out to Mihayo.
Mihayo yelled out: “You will know when they get here”, before the ex-partner ran into the main house to call police.
When police arrived Mihayo opened the door with a towel in his hands and told police: “It’s done. I’ve killed them. I’ve killed my kids.”

Harrowing tales of fuel tanker fire survivors


Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) medics attend to victims of the oil tanker fire disaster yesterday. These are among those who escaped death in the incident in which the ill-fated tanker exploded as some residents of Mbagala-Charambe in Dar es Salaam scrambled to siphon petrol on Monday. One was killed at the scene while four others died at MNH while receiving treatment. PHOTO | SALHIM SHAO      
By Henry Mwangonde, The Citizen Reporter
In Summary
They were killed when the vehicle overturned at Mbagala Charambe roundabout on Monday and burst into flames. Those who survived the crash spoke yesterday of their ordeal as Muhimbili National Hospital officials took stock of the crisis.
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Dar es Salaam. The death toll in the oil tanker accident here had risen to five yesterday, according to the communications officer at Muhimbili National Hospital, Ms Doris Ishenda. 
They were killed when the vehicle overturned at Mbagala Charambe roundabout on Monday and burst into flames. Those who survived the crash spoke yesterday of their ordeal as Muhimbili National Hospital officials took stock of the crisis.
The injured, most of them bodaboda riders, were burnt as they tried to extract fuel from the tanker that later exploded. “I was on the other side of the road when I saw a friend carrying two jerry-cans, his body wet with petrol,” 25-year-old Nurdin Salum told The Citizen from his hospital bed. “Next thing, my entire body was burning.” He does not understand why Tanzanians do not learn from their mistakes. Many people were killed in Mbeya some years back in the same circumstances, he recalled.
Salum reckons poverty is the main cause of such accidents, given that people dash into danger without giving any thought to the consequences. Had it not been for people tampering with the lorry, he added, the situation would not have arisen.
Mr Abbas Mohammed (23) expressed regret at being at the scene of the accident at that particular time. He added: “I am married with two children. I do not know how long I will stay in hospital. Let others know that they must avoid getting close to fuel tankers.”
Most of those interviewed said they were passersby. But the acting regional police commander for Temeke, Mr Nyigesa Wankyo, told The Citizen the majority of the severely injured were trying to steal fuel from the tanker. At least 19 people were injured and one died at the scene.
The hospital received 15 patients who were in critical condition and two of them died at around 1pm the day they were brought in. Two others died yesterday morning, raising the number of the dead to five. The critically injured are being monitored closely by doctors.
Those who lost their lives, all of them residents of Mbagala, are: Ramadhan Hassan(36), Hassan Ismail (19), Maulid Rajaab (61) and Mohammed Ismail (23). The body of the other victim was burnt beyond recognition.