News / National
Bus, tractor accident claims a life
21 Jun 2014 at 13:20hrs | Views
SPEEDING was cited as the major evil that resulted in the Gijima Farm bus accident that killed one person on the spot.
The accident, which involved a Trip Trans coach, occurred on Tuesday evening at a steep slope and curve, about 20 kilometers before Rusape along the Harare-Mutare highway.
The speeding Trip Trans blue coach hit a tractor that had no lights.
The tractor was broken into three pieces.
The bus stopped about 100 metres from the point of impact. This was attributed to speeding.
Manicaland police spokesperson Inspector Enock Chishiri identified the deceased as George Tambudzai Chinzou (41), of Rusape.
He said 37 passengers were seriously injured. They were rushed to Rusape General Hospital.
They sustained head, spinal, shoulder, fractured limps and ribs and soft tissue injuries. When The Manica Post visited the injured in the wards, only a few could talk, the rest were either in a state of shock, confusion or asleep.
Some victims were visibly and writhing in pain; screaming and shouting for help from nurses.
They had tears of pain dripping down their cheeks, scenes that left us in deafening silence and shaking heads in sympathy and disbelief.
The bus was Mutare-bound.
"The bus rammed into a tractor which was going the same direction, breaking it into two pieces. The bus veered off the road on impact, hitting trees and rock boulders on the on the right side of the road for about 100m before landing in a ditch facing the direction it was coming from," said Insp Chishiri.
"One passenger George Tambudzai Chinzou (41), of Rusape died on the spot after sustaining serious head injuries. 37 other passengers were rushed to Rusape General Hospital, where they were admitted. The bus was speeding and public transport drivers must exercise restraint and stop putting the lives of travelers at risk. The tractor had no lights, and modes of transports with such defects should not move on the road at night," said Insp Chishiri.
One survivor described the bus driver as "speed devil".
"He was a speed devil. The bus had just overtaken a small car and as it tried to go back on its lane hit a tractor and swerved three times before hitting trees and landed on the side randaive ndiri. The bust was travelling at over 120km per hour," said the survivor.
The accident, which involved a Trip Trans coach, occurred on Tuesday evening at a steep slope and curve, about 20 kilometers before Rusape along the Harare-Mutare highway.
The speeding Trip Trans blue coach hit a tractor that had no lights.
The tractor was broken into three pieces.
The bus stopped about 100 metres from the point of impact. This was attributed to speeding.
Manicaland police spokesperson Inspector Enock Chishiri identified the deceased as George Tambudzai Chinzou (41), of Rusape.
He said 37 passengers were seriously injured. They were rushed to Rusape General Hospital.
Some victims were visibly and writhing in pain; screaming and shouting for help from nurses.
They had tears of pain dripping down their cheeks, scenes that left us in deafening silence and shaking heads in sympathy and disbelief.
The bus was Mutare-bound.
"The bus rammed into a tractor which was going the same direction, breaking it into two pieces. The bus veered off the road on impact, hitting trees and rock boulders on the on the right side of the road for about 100m before landing in a ditch facing the direction it was coming from," said Insp Chishiri.
"One passenger George Tambudzai Chinzou (41), of Rusape died on the spot after sustaining serious head injuries. 37 other passengers were rushed to Rusape General Hospital, where they were admitted. The bus was speeding and public transport drivers must exercise restraint and stop putting the lives of travelers at risk. The tractor had no lights, and modes of transports with such defects should not move on the road at night," said Insp Chishiri.
One survivor described the bus driver as "speed devil".
"He was a speed devil. The bus had just overtaken a small car and as it tried to go back on its lane hit a tractor and swerved three times before hitting trees and landed on the side randaive ndiri. The bust was travelling at over 120km per hour," said the survivor.
Source - manicapost
