Posted by Amarachi on Fri 14th Feb, 2025 - tori.ng
Nyathi said preliminary investigations indicated that the bus was trying to overtake another vehicle when it collided with the haulage truck.
Twenty-four persons have been reported dead during a head-on collision between a bus and a truck in Zimbabwe.
Police spokesperson, Paul Nyathi said the accident happened on Thursday, February 13, 2025 near Beitbridge, a town on the southern border with South Africa.
The bus was traveling from the capital, Harare, to Beitbridge with 65 passengers on board.
Nyathi said preliminary investigations indicated that the bus was trying to overtake another vehicle when it collided with the haulage truck.
He said police are uncertain how many people were injured.
State media showed pictures of some covered bodies lying on the ground and the mangled wreckages of the bus and truck.
The State-run Herald newspaper quoted a government medical officer in Beitbridge as saying 17 people died at the scene of the accident, while seven others died from head injuries at a hospital in Beitbridge.
The newspaper reported that 30 others were injured and in the hospital.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa said he was horrified and heartbroken and declared the crash a national disaster. He said the government will take care of funeral and burial expenses.
Our nation does not deserve this at all, let alone experiencing such a bloody incident at the beginning of the year,” Mnangagwa said in a statement, urging drivers to exercise “extreme caution on the roads.”