Former Zambia national football team captain Rainford Kalaba in ‘critical but stable’ condition after fatal crash 

* He is responding very well to treatment and he’s now able to respond to his name

* We can see a lot of movement and a lot of gestures that are evident to see in the way he is responding to sounds

BBC Sport

Former Zambia national football team captain, Rainford Kalaba — who was involved in a fatal car crash on Saturday, is in a “critical but stable” condition, according to the country’s football association (FAZ).

The 37-year-old was a passenger in a Mercedes Benz when it collided with an oncoming truck in the south-eastern Zambian town of Kafue and the female driver of the car was killed.

FAZ says Kalaba, who is in hospital, suffered “internal injuries” and a police report issued after the crash stated preliminary investigations indicate the accident was a result of “improper overtaking” by the Mercedes.

News on Kalaba is being closely monitored in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the forward played for TP Mazembe between 2011 and 2023 — a 12-year period in which he helped the Congolese club win the African Champions League in 2015.

There was confusion over the severity of Kalaba’s condition immediately after the crash when Mazembe posted updates on social media which the club has since clarified.

Kalaba, who was in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations squad that won the title for the first time beating Côte d’Ivoire 8-7 on penalties after a 0-0 draw, went on to captain his country and made more than 100 senior appearances for the Chipolopolo.

At club level, Kalaba was a stalwart for TP Mazembe in an era when they won the African Champions League, two African Super Cups and an African Confederation Cup title.

He previously had spells in his homeland with Kitwe United and Zesco United before moving to Portuguese club Braga in 2008.

However, he only made one appearance for the club and had loan stints with Gil Vicente and Uniao de Leiria before his move to DR Congo.

CitiSports.com reports that Kalaba was wrongly pronounced dead by emergency medical service after the head-on collision with a heavy truck but hours later, public relations officer of the University Teaching Hospital, Nzeba Chanda announced he was responding to treatment.

“He is responding very well to treatment and he’s now able to respond to his name,” she was quoted as saying. “We can see a lot of movement and a lot of gestures that are evident to see in the way he is responding to sounds, the way he is responding to touch and those are the things that we can tell that he’s really improved as compared to the day that he came.”