Chimoio Mozambique

 

Lat = 19 degrees, 7.7 minutes South

Long = 33 degrees, 27.9 minutes East

 

Saturday 19th March 1988

 

Shakira had just climbed down from the rear of the truck when a Police four by four vehicle arrived along the road from the city. He walked towards the driver’s door as they pulled up in front of his vehicle.

Both Police officers climbed out, they were armed with side arms. The one spoke with a slight Afrikaans dialect.

“Hey Mon; what’s the problem?”

Shakira adopted a subservient stance, “Nothing much just had to replace a flat tyre,” responded Shakira.

“Jour nog vandaan rond hiers are jou?”(You’re not from around here are you?)

“No officer; I’m not from around here, I’m Just delivering some farm machine parts to one of the farms.”

“We need to sien jour papiere Mon.” (We need to see you’re papers man.)

Both Police officers approached with one going to the back of the truck.

“Yes I have my papers in the truck”

“Wel hurry Mon, we haat nee got aldag.” (Well hurry man; we have not got alday.)

“Yes sir I’ll get them.”

Shakira opened the driver’s door and leaned into the vehicle reaching across for his nine millimeter silenced Beretta.

The policeman at the back shouted, “wat dees jou het in die rug Mon?” (What’s this you have in the back man?)

Shakira came out of the door and turned quickly towards the Police officer by his side leveling the pistol for the head shot, the Beretta made a muffled sound and the Policeman fell to the ground, he turned quickly to face the back of the truck just as the second Policeman came around; a second muffled shot emitted from the Beretta hitting the victim in the face.

Shakira quickly looked around for any signs of witnesses to his acts. He hastily carried the two dead bodies and placed them in the back of the police vehicle and drove it around to the back of the building out of site, he checked the ruined building.

He then promptly unloaded the device from his truck and set it up in the ruined building, he re-checked the wind direction to confirm that it was still blowing in a Northeasterly direction; he set the timer for thirty minutes and armed the device. He climbed back into his truck swung it round and headed west back towards Zimbabwe.

Thirty minutes later the device top opened followed by a whoosh sound as the polymer globe was fired into the air; at fifty meters the globe disintegrated releasing its deadly contents.

Half a mile away Itai Chipezeze was out in one of his cotton fields supervising his workers he looked over and observed one of his workers coughing violently, this was followed by a progression of the other workers coughing violently followed by severe vomiting.

Itai walked closer to them and immediately felt his limbs weaken; he felt a burning sensation in his lungs and was forced to cough aggressively and collapsed to his knees immediately vomiting.

He observed his workers through his now blurring vision collapsed on the ground shaking violently, he looked over at his farm and caught a glimpse of his wife Ashley running towards him, he rolled over onto his back looking up at a crystal blue sky; his eyes closed for the last time.