A drinking spree nearly ended up in death when a Mozambiquan man was hit by a speeding taxi at Khubvi village on Sunday afternoon.

Bleeding heavily on the head, Amos Mlambo lay helplessly on the side of the road before the arrival of the paramedics. His friend tried to cool him down, while the gaping wound on the head continued to bleed.

Amos Mlambo was drinking with friends at Khubvi when they decided to go to Tshidimbini on foot, using the Thohoyandou-Tshilamba road. The three friends all stay at Tshidimbini village.

One of the shocked friends, Talifhani Muthige, who was walking with Amos, said it is still a mystery how his friend was hit by the taxi. He explains what happened: "We were using the main road when we decided to cross it, so that we could take a shortcut to Tshidimbini. Amos was walking behind us and all of us crossed the road before him. When we were on the other side of the road, we heard a loud sound. We then went back to investigate and we were shocked to see our friend lying on the other side of the road, with blood oozing from his head, mouth and nose."

Talifhani said the taxi only halted some few metres away from the accident scene. "I cannot tell exactly how he was hit, but the windscreen of the taxi was seriously damaged. I am happy that he survived the painful experience and believe that he will have a speedy recovery. We are happy that his life was saved by the paramedics."

Mirror has reliably learnt that Amos is recuperating at Donald Fraser Hospital in a stable condition. Insp Nkanukeni Raedani of the Thohoyandou Police confirmed the incident. He said police were investigating a case of reckless and negligent driving.