11 perish in separate road accidents
ELEVEN people, three of them Malawians, were killed in separate road accidents between Friday and Saturday. The fatalities include six who died in the Saturday accident that involved a Pathfinder luxury coach and a haulage truck, police said.
The Bulawayo-bound Pathfinder collided with the truck at Lochard near Shangani along Bulawayo – Harare Highway and killed six people on Saturday night.
On Friday three people, believed to be from Malawi died on the spot when a Toyota Quantum, which had eight passengers on board, veered off the road and overturned. The victims are yet to be identified.
Yesterday afternoon the driver of a Toyota Vitz and his female passenger died on the spot when their vehicle collided with a kombi near Esigodini along Bulawayo – Beitbridge Road.
Referring to the Pathfinder accident, national police spokesperson Chief Superintended Paul Nyathi said: “The death toll is six. Four died from the bus while the truck driver and his passenger also died. The bus had 66 passengers on board and 38 were ferried to different hospitals while 24 sustained minor injuries.”
It is believed that the bus driver survived the accident.
United Bulawayo Hospitals’ acting clinical director Prof Enyioma Enwerem, confirmed that some of the victims were admitted to his institution.
“Seven people, four women and three men, are on admission as we speak. Of these, six are stable and one is critical at the ICU,” he said adding, “Six were brought in dead last night while 13 were seen and discharged.”
A source who witnessed the accident said traffic on the highway was blocked for almost an hour.
“Traffic was disrupted for an hour as the police and ambulance crews tried to assist the victims,” said the source. “When I arrived they were trying to retrieve the bodies of the dead while other victims had been rushed to the hospital in Bulawayo.”
Among the survivors of the Pathfinder accident was Highlanders Football Club chairman Peter Dube and Premier Soccer League board member in charge of competitions Tavengwa Hara.
They were coming from Harare where they attended a PSL meeting to review the 2013 season. Chief Supt Nyathi said the Toyota Quantum accident occurred at 39 km peg along Bulawayo – Harare Highway at 2 am on Friday.
“The driver of a Toyota Quantum was moving towards Gweru with eight passengers on board. The driver and the passengers were foreigners from Malawi who had attended a church service in Bulawayo,” Chief Supt said.
“Upon approaching the 39km peg the vehicle veered off the road and overturned and killed three people. Five were injured and rushed to UBH.”
Turning to Esigodini accident Chief Supt Nyathi said the two vehicles caught fire when they collided at the 65km peg.
“The driver of the private car and a passenger died on the spot when the two vehicles collided. Both cars caught fire and were burnt beyond recognition,” he said. The Chronicle
