News / National
13 people died in Masvingo bus crash
08 Jan 2011 at 15:19hrs | Views
THIRTEEN people died and several others were injured in a head-on collision between a bus and a truck near Ngundu (90 km from Beitbridge border gate) on Thursday 6 January, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) reported.
The bus travelling from Johannesburg to Harare collided with the truck carrying cotton lint while overtaking another vehicle ZBC reported. 11 people died on the spot while two were pronounced dead on admission at Masvingo General Hospital. Some of the injured were ferried to Chibi Hospital and police were still verifying the names of the dead.
Masvingo province commanding officer, Senior Assistant Commissioner Fortune Zengeni, told the ZBC that the Luqrey Coach bus had South African registration numbers. Zengeni said preliminary investigations showed that the bus had been speeding when the collision occurred.
Road accidents are among the major killers in Zimbabwe, highways are in constant disrepair, riddled with potholes due to years of neglect.
Acting Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Minister Nicholas Goche sent a condolence message to the bereaved families.
A comment from an online local press website read: "That's sad indeed. Government should please speed the construction of most major roads. The road in question is very narrow and very busy. Financing the construction from government coffers might take ages since there are many competing needs. I suggest government makes it a private sector project. Please prioritize that road - we have lost many people - a good number of them being sole breadwinners. And this adds more problems of the upkeep of orphans, the caring of the maimed etc."
The bus travelling from Johannesburg to Harare collided with the truck carrying cotton lint while overtaking another vehicle ZBC reported. 11 people died on the spot while two were pronounced dead on admission at Masvingo General Hospital. Some of the injured were ferried to Chibi Hospital and police were still verifying the names of the dead.
Masvingo province commanding officer, Senior Assistant Commissioner Fortune Zengeni, told the ZBC that the Luqrey Coach bus had South African registration numbers. Zengeni said preliminary investigations showed that the bus had been speeding when the collision occurred.
Acting Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Minister Nicholas Goche sent a condolence message to the bereaved families.
A comment from an online local press website read: "That's sad indeed. Government should please speed the construction of most major roads. The road in question is very narrow and very busy. Financing the construction from government coffers might take ages since there are many competing needs. I suggest government makes it a private sector project. Please prioritize that road - we have lost many people - a good number of them being sole breadwinners. And this adds more problems of the upkeep of orphans, the caring of the maimed etc."
Source - Byo24News/ZBC
