Bus inferno, truck driver faces 20 counts of culpable homicide

The driver of the haulage truck which sideswiped a Proliner bus in Mvuma on Wednesday, resulting in the death of 20 people, will be charged with an equal number of culpable homicide cases, police have said.

Police chief national spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba yesterday said the haulage truck driver was believed to have encroached into the lane of the bus, resulting in the fatal accident.

The driver of the bus also survived the accident.

"The truck driver is going to be charged with culpable homicide because he is the one who encroached into the lane of the bus, resulting in the sideswipe," said Snr Asst Comm Charamba.

She said the remains of the deceased had since been collected from the wreckage.

Anyone missing their relatives should go to Gweru Provincial Hospital for samples of DNA to be taken.

Snr Asst Comm Charamba said the bus crew did not have a passenger manifest, making it difficult to ascertain both the numbers and the names of the passengers.

She said the 41 injured passengers were taken to hospitals in Masvingo, Mvuma, Gweru, Driefontein Mission and Harare.

Two of them were in critical conditions. Survivors yesterday blamed the bus driver for the horror crash, accusing him of speeding.

Mrs Alice Hodzi (29) of Eastview Park in Mabvuku, Harare, who escaped together with her 11-month-old daughter, Princess Matoro, said she was battling to figure out how she survived the accident.

Speaking from her hospital bed at Mvuma District Hospital, Mrs Hodzi, who sustained burns on the back and a broken leg after she jumped out of the bus through the window while holding her child by one arm, attributed her survival to the power of God.

"I only remember hearing a loud bang before everyone on the bus started screaming, as the bus had caught fire at the front, the back and close to where I was seated,'' she said.

"The driver was speeding and had just overtaken another vehicle near the bridge. After the bus caught fire, I started screaming and my daughter fell under the seat.

"I looked for my daughter in the confusion after deciding that I could not jump out without her.

"My weave caught fire and I jumped out of the bus with my daughter and broke my right leg on landing awkwardly by the road side. There was pandemonium as everyone tried to escape as the burning bus was characterised by intermittent explosions.''

She said a kombi driver who passed by the accident scene just after it had happened ferried her and several others to Mvuma District Hospital.