4 vehicles burnt to shells in accident

Four vehicles were yesterday reduced to shells after they caught fire in a pile up caused by a head-on collision of two haulage trucks along the Masvingo-Beitbridge highway.

The accident occurred at the 55km peg near the Chivi Turn Off tollgate.

It could not be established whether there were any casualties in the accident or how many people were in the vehicles when they caught fire.

By the time the Fire Brigade eventually managed to put out the inferno yesterday evening, the fire had consumed large parts of the two haulage trucks.

Also reduced to shells were a Honda Fit and a Nissan Almera that also caught fire which spread from one of the trucks that was being followed closely by the two small vehicles that were travelling from the Masvingo direction.

Stunned and fear-stricken villagers from surrounding communities flocked to the accident scene on a rescue mission with plumes of thick black smoke billowing into the sky.

Police and well-wishers reportedly took survivors to Chivi District Hospital for examination.

Masvingo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa said police were still at the crash scene investigating.

He said it was not yet clear whether there were any casualties saying investigations were still ongoing.

"We have our team at the scene right now and as of now we don't know whether there have been any deaths,how many people were in all the vehicles and what caused the accident,"he said.

"The Fire Brigade has managed to put out the fire and all the four vehicles were severely burnt and our teams are now closely investigating to see if there were any deaths because some of the survivors and witnesses are giving conflicting statements."

Insp Dhewa said it was the norm that accident survivors be taken for medical examination to treat even things like shock.

"We will have a full picture once our teams have finished investigations at the scene," he said.

According to him, the only available information was that two haulage trucks travelling in opposite directions collided head-on and two small cars following behind one of the trucks also caught fire and were burnt.

"A Honda Fit and an Almera that was behind one of the trucks involved in the collision, also caught fire together with the two trucks," added Insp Dhewa.

"The information that we have is still very sketchy. We are waiting for our team on the ground to finish investigations now that fire on the burning vehicles has been extinguished."

Road traffic accidents along the Masvingo-Beitbridge highway had greatly subsided thanks to the ongoing widening and rehabilitation of the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge Road by the Government with most sections now complete and open to traffic.