A 16-year-old Beit Bridge girl was accidentally shot and seriously injured in the ribs by a local security guard, police have said.

The local police spokesperson, Chief Superintendent Hosiah Mukombero, said the incident occurred on Thursday last week at a local Spar Supermarket in Dulibadzimu suburb in the border town. “The suspect, who is employed by a local security company, was handing over his revolver to his colleague during the change of shift, and in the process of doing so, a shot was fired and the girl was hit," he said.

The victim, who was coming out of the shop, was hit by the stray bullet and collapsed. She was then transferred to Bulawayo for further treatment, where her condition is reportedly critical.

The suspect is expected to appear in court soon. Mukombero said they were continuing with investigations. “We continue to urge security companies to desist from employing untrained security guards. In fact, they should not arm personnel who do not have proper firearm-handling skills, to avoid the recurrence of such incidents.

“Recently, we had incidents in which armed security guards were being disarmed by unarmed robbers and that is an issue of grave concern to us as far as security is concerned,” he said.