Zimbabwe

Mutare bus accident death toll rises to 16

Wreckages of the Smart Express and Bolt Cutter buses following a head-on collision near the Rusape tollgate yesterday

THE death toll from a horror bus crash that occurred along the Harare-Mutare Highway on Saturday evening has risen to 16, after two more people died on admission to Mutare Provincial Hospital.

BY KENNETH NYANGANI

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathis told NewsDay yesterday that 14 people died on the spot and two others in hospital after a General Bande bus collided with a haulage truck at Shamhu, near Odzi.
“The number of people who have died in the accident is now 16 from 14. Fourteen people died on the spot, while two others died at Mutare Provincial Hospital,” he said, adding that 40 survivors were still admitted at Mutare Provincial Hospital.

“I can confirm that 40 people are admitted at Mutare Provincial Hospital. I am told that the driver of the bus was speeding and passengers in the bus warned him not to speed, but continued speeding. While at Shamhu, the bus which was coming from Harare burst its left tyre and encroached into the lane of a haulage truck which was coming from Mutare, resulting in a head-on collision,” he said

Nyathi said the bus driver and conductor died on the spot.

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