Huge relief for African football community as Zambia legend Rainford Kalaba has started responding to treatment in the Lusaka University Hospital after a horrific car accident on Saturday.
His former club, TP Mazembe of DR Congo, who had earlier pronounced him dead, rescinded their statement and assured that the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations champion is now recovering well in an artificial coma.
TP Mazembe’s latest statement read: “Alive, Kalaba makes movement and responds to his name 48 hours after his misfortune. The former TP Mazembe captain would be out of danger, according to the latest news from the Lusaka University Hospital where he was treated very seriously.”
After the unfortunate accident on Saturday, TP Mazembe were among the social media profiles that announced the tragic death of Kalaba but they tracked back to clarify the deleted post.
Translated from @TPMazembe:
Rest in peace our “Maestro.” 😭😭😭
What a loss! Rainford KALABA did not survive a traffic accident on Saturday 13 April in Zambia between Kafwe and Lusaka.Master…master…master…
Such a tragedy. Our deepest condolences..
MHSRIP 🙏🏽💔🙏🏽🕊 https://t.co/3FNM5CDKg3— robertmarawa (@robertmarawa) April 13, 2024
37-year-old Kalaba was part of the Zambia squad that won the 2012 AFCON and he scored a total of 15 goals in 105 games for the Chipolopolo.
He won the 2016 CAF Confederation Cup Golden Boot and he also won the CAF Super Cup, CAF Champions League and the Confederation Cup at TP Mazembe.
