Truck driver escapes death by a whisker

A 58 year old man survived death by a whisker after his haulage truck hit an elephant at Dopota lay-by in Hwange last night.

The accident occurred 65 kilometres from the mining town near the turn off to Hwange Main Camp along the Bulawayo Victoria Falls highway around 7pm.

The visibly shaken driver, Evenings Kunaka who was heading for Hwange to deliver maize at the GMB depot said an elephant suddenly appeared on the main road at full speed attempting to cross and join the rest of the herd which was in the nearby fields.

It is then that he hit the jumbo and his haulage truck overturned on the side of the road.

In another related incident, Parks and Wildlife Management Authority rangers shot two elephants under the problem animal control programme as elephants are wreaking havoc in the fields.

As late as midnight, villagers could be seen walking past the scene of the accident carrying buckets and heading to a nearby field where one of the elephants was being skinned.

When the ZBC News crew arrived at the field, villagers were busy skinning the elephant but called on the government to find a lasting solution to their problem as they never harvest anything in their fields.