Eight Die In Two Horrific Masvingo Accidents

In the first accident, six people died, three of them on the spot, while five others were injured when a commuter omnibus they were travelling in burst a tyre and overturned along the Masvingo-Great Zimbabwe highway.

The commuter omnibus that was travelling from Nemamwa towards Masvingo city centre burst a tyre and veered off the road before overturning and landing in a nearby ditch.

Three people died on the spot while three others died on admission at Morgenster referral hospital.

The accident occurred about six kilometres from Great Zimbabwe just before 1300hrs this Friday.

When the ZBC News arrived at the scene of the accident, police were still removing the dead bodies from the wreckage of the commuter bus, while the injured were being ferried to hospital.

People who were close-by when the accident happened told ZBC News that they heard a loud noise that sounded like a tyre burst and rushed to the scene and found the injured crying for help.

“We heard a loud noise while at home and we rushed to see what had happened. Some of the victims died while we were watching,” said an eye witness.

“We heard an unusual noise while in class at school and rushed to the scene of the accident . The victims were crying for help with no one to help them,” another eye witness said.

It is not yet clear whether the commuter bus was speeding or not.

In the second accident, two people were crushed to death after a Nissan Primera vehicle which was coming from the central business district collided with a 7-tonne Isuzu truck along the Masvingo-Harare highway late Friday afternoon.

The accident happened about 500 metres from the CBD, a few meters from the Masvingo Vehicle Inspection Depot.

Eye witnesses say the Nissan Primera was speeding and the driver lost control of the vehicle resulting in him encroaching into the oncoming lane where he collided with the truck.

Of the three people who were in the vehicle, two died on impact while one was thrown out of the car and escaped with minor injuries.

The driver of the truck was ferried to hospital and is reported to be in a stable condition.

Road accidents claim hundreds of people every year in Zimbabwe with human error being the major cause.- Source-zbc