Bush crash baby buried without leg

A LEG belonging to a three-year-old accident victim has been found, 12 days after she was buried with the body part missing.

The three-year-old girl was among four people who died on the spot when an Extra City bus side-swiped the trailer of a haulage truck before overturning along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Highway on September 30.

The mother of the child, Praise Jamela, sustained severe injuries and is recuperating at the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH).

The girl was buried with no leg after efforts by the bus crew and the police to locate it were fruidess.

Police at Hillside Police Station intervened after a dispute erupted as the family accused the company of having kept the leg for alleged ritual purposes.

Bulawayo Provincial spokesperson Inspector Precious Si mango on Wednesday said the matter had been resolved.

"The police had to mediate between the family and the bus company following some accusations by the family. I can confirm that the matter has since been solved amicably. It's unfortunate that the family had not reported to the police that their child was buried without a leg," said Insp Simango.

The decomposing leg was discovered last Friday in the bus which had been towed from the accident scene to Waterford in Bulawayo.

Extra City operations manager Dexter Masimira allegedly informed the family that the leg had been found and a report was made at Hillside Police Station.

The family demanded answers after the leg spent some days in the bus after it was found.

Masimira spent TUesday and Wednesday with the leg in his car owing to the dispute.

Phathezakhe Dube, the father of the child, told The Chronicle that he was not happy with the way Extra City had handled the matter.

"My daughter's body didn't have a leg after the accident and we were forced to bury her without the leg. We were told that a search was conducted but the leg was not found," said Dube.

"Masimira called us on Friday last week informing us that the leg had been found in the bus. We expected him to report the matter to the police but he took his time to do so. When the police were informed, they did nothing until we went there to complain."

He said the leg was removed from the bus only after they had put pressure on Masimira.

"We'll sit down as a family and decide what to do with the leg," said Dube.

Dube's sister-in-law, Primrose Chigwegwe, accused the bus company of negligence, saying they were not given the chance as the family to look for the leg.

"We were left with no choice but to suspect foul play because of the way things were unfolding. After we put pressure on Masimira, he brought the leg to UBH where my sister is receiving treatment," said Chigwegwe.

"He wanted to give us the leg at the hospital yet he knows that it's not our duty to take it to the mortuary. We refused to take the leg because what happened was not our fault. If they had given us the chance to look for it, maybe we would have found it and buried our child with both legs."

Masimira, however, said he reported the matter to the police and they took days to respond because of logistical problems and lack of resources.

"Police don't have resources. The leg is in my car because they don't have a vehicle. This isn't my job but I'm assisting out of courtesy. I don't know why I'm being blamed," said Masimira.

He said the leg was in the boot of the bus and was only discovered by mechanics.