News / Local
Sihube bus accident, 2 dead, 60 injured
07 Jan 2012 at 09:06hrs | Views
TWO people died on the spot while 60 others were injured, 10 of them seriously, when a Sihube bus burst its front tyre, veered off the road and overturned at the 23km-peg along Bulawayo-Nkayi Road yesterday.
There were 74 passengers on board. A man and a woman died on the spot. A total of 60 passengers were injured, 10 of them seriously.
It took the Bulawayo Fire Brigade nearly three hours to rescue some of the victims due to inadequate equipment.
The bus, which had 74 passengers on board, was coming from Zhombe heading to Bulawayo.
Upon reaching a bridge across Koce River it burst a front tyre and veered off the road before overturning and landing on its roof a few metres from the bridge.
The injured were rushed to Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo where some were said to be in a serious condition.
In separate interviews the visibly shocked survivors claimed that the bus driver was speeding.
"He was speeding and people were complaining but he ignored us. When he reached the bridge the bus burst the right front tyre and the driver lost control," said Mr Trevor Sabatha.
"The bus hit the bridge pillars and at that time the remaining front tyre deflated resulting in the bus overturning."
The Bulawayo-Nkayi Road is in a bad state and something must be done. There are 23 buses operating along this route and 19 kombis excluding private vehicles.
People have complained about the poor state of the road for a long time and it is high time that something is done. There is also the issue of narrow bridges that needs to be attended to.
There were 74 passengers on board. A man and a woman died on the spot. A total of 60 passengers were injured, 10 of them seriously.
It took the Bulawayo Fire Brigade nearly three hours to rescue some of the victims due to inadequate equipment.
The bus, which had 74 passengers on board, was coming from Zhombe heading to Bulawayo.
Upon reaching a bridge across Koce River it burst a front tyre and veered off the road before overturning and landing on its roof a few metres from the bridge.
In separate interviews the visibly shocked survivors claimed that the bus driver was speeding.
"He was speeding and people were complaining but he ignored us. When he reached the bridge the bus burst the right front tyre and the driver lost control," said Mr Trevor Sabatha.
"The bus hit the bridge pillars and at that time the remaining front tyre deflated resulting in the bus overturning."
The Bulawayo-Nkayi Road is in a bad state and something must be done. There are 23 buses operating along this route and 19 kombis excluding private vehicles.
People have complained about the poor state of the road for a long time and it is high time that something is done. There is also the issue of narrow bridges that needs to be attended to.
Source - TC
