16 KILLED IN CRASH

News
SIXTEEN people died when a 29-seater Sprinter commuter omnibus they were travelling in was involved in a head-on collision with a Hino truck along the Beitbridge-Masvingo Highway in the early hours of yesterday morning.

SIXTEEN people died when a 29-seater Sprinter commuter omnibus they were travelling in was involved in a head-on collision with a Hino truck along the Beitbridge-Masvingo Highway in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Beitbridge-Masvingo-Highway-ACCIDENT

TATENDA CHITAGU OWN CORRESPONDENT

The dead include seven males, nine females and two children aged three and five-months respectively. According to national police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi, 14 people — including the kombi driver — died on the spot while another passenger died at Neshuro Hospital. The driver of the truck died at Beitbridge District Hospital.

The accident occurred about 100m from the Lion and Elephant Motel and Bubi River on the 83km peg along the Beitbridge-Masvingo Road. The South Africa-registered truck that was heading towards Masvingo is believed to have encroached into the lane of the Muneri Tours kombi that was on its way to the border town resulting in the tragedy.

According to the police officer commanding operations in Masvingo province Assistant Commissioner William Tadyanemhandu, the kombi was carrying 28 people, including the driver, while the truck had three people on board.

Eleven people were seriously injured and were ferried to Beitbridge Hospital and later transferred to Gwanda and Bulawayo because of the nature of their injuries as the hospital is not equipped to deal with serious injuries.

Three others were taken to Neshuro District Hospital in Mwenezi where one died after admission.

The Harare-Masvingo Road has become a highway of death with dozens of people losing their lives in fatal accidents every year.

Last Wednesday, former NewsDay news editor and Chronicle business editor Mernat Mafirakurewa died on the spot in a horrific head-on collision with a South Africa-bound bus in Beatrice while driving to Harare.

According to a 2012 Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe report, five people die every day in road accidents in the country and most deaths occur on the Harare-Masvingo Road.

The highway has badly deteriorated under increased heavy traffic.

A total of 34 115 haulage trucks ranging from 30 to 56 tonnes enter the country through the Beitbridge and Chirundu Border Posts each month.