Harare-Masvingo Highway Collision claims 15 lives
A devastating road accident along the Harare-Masvingo Highway has claimed the lives of fifteen church members, with an additional 41 individuals sustaining serious injuries.
The incident occurred when a Mercedes Benz Sprinter commuter omnibus collided head-on with a haulage truck near the Beatrice area, as the group was en route to a church gathering in Chivhu. The accident took place at approximately 4p.m leaving the community in shock and mourning.
Following the collision, some of the injured victims were swiftly transported to Beatrice Hospital for urgent medical attention, while others were taken to Chitungwiza Central Hospital.
Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi, the national police spokesperson, confirmed the tragic accident. “The ZRP confirms a fatal road traffic accident which occurred this afternoon (yesterday) at around 1600 hours at the 53km peg along Harare-Masvingo Road in which 15 people were killed after a Sprinter kombi traveling towards Masvingo was involved in a head-on collision with a truck traveling towards Harare. More details will be released in due course,” he stated.
This devastating incident serves as a grim reminder of the urgent need for responsible driving on Zimbabwe’s roads. The country has been grappling with a concerning rise in road fatalities due to human error. On Independence Day, a total of nine individuals lost their lives, and 25 others sustained injuries in 100 road traffic accidents reported nationwide. Comparatively, during the same period last year, four fatalities and 22 injuries were recorded in 133 road accidents.
The statistics for this year reveal a distressing increase in both the number of deaths and injuries resulting from road accidents. Law enforcement authorities have attributed most of these incidents to human error, which includes factors such as speeding, inattention, misjudgment, overtaking errors, and failure to adhere to road rules and regulations. The Easter holiday period alone witnessed 27 fatalities and 159 injuries in 286 recorded road traffic accidents, painting a grim picture of the current road safety situation in Zimbabwe.
