Fleeing kombi injures 3 cops and 4 passengers

THREE police officers were injured, one of them seriously, on Sunday after a commuter omnibus driver they had arrested for assault sped off while they were inside resulting in the vehicle overturning. Four other passengers in the bus were injured but treated and discharged from Parirenyatwa Hospital.

The seriously injured police officer is still admitted at the hospital while his colleagues were treated and discharged.

Harare provincial police spokesperson Inspector James Sabau said the policemen had arrested the commuter omnibus crew on allegations of assaulting Regis Dube.

The driver Nheda was told that he had been arrested for assault charges and the policemen got into the kombi, ordering him to drive to the police station.

It is alleged that Nheda then sped off along Seke Road.

Along the way Nheda later failed to control the vehicle and veered off the road before it overturned six times and landed on its roof, injuring the policemen and the passengers.

Insp Sabau said the matter was still under investigations.

He expressed concern over the behaviour of commuter omnibus drivers, saying they should not cry foul when police resort to using minimal force when the need arose.

Several police officers have either killed or injured in recent years after being hit or ran over by commuter buses.

Commuter omnibus drivers are notorious for resisting arrest and for flaunting traffic rules at will.