HARARE - A passenger bus slammed into a reversing truck, killing at least 13 people on Monday evening along the Harare-Nyamapanda road, police confirmed yesterday.
The accident came a week after 16 people died in an almost identical crash between a truck and a bus near Bubi River enroute to Beitbridge.
State and police officials said 30 people survived but 18 were critically injured, in a crash that occurred shortly before midnight at the 22km peg along Harare-Nyamapanda road.
A communiqué from the police said a cross border Zupco bus that was coming from Malawi collided with a Mujawo Transport truck, which was going in the opposite direction.
Paul Nyathi, national police spokesperson, said in a statement that the truck driver, Wonderful Nyamurambe, 42, who was travelling from Harare towards Nyamapanda, stopped just after the bridge upon realising that there were some clothes dumped in the middle of the road.
“The driver alleges that he stopped his truck thinking that there were people sleeping on the road and then started reversing his motor vehicle in order to avoid running into the objects,” Nyathi said.
As he was manoeuvring his truck, the Zupco bus, which had 43 passengers on board, sideswiped the truck and then veered off the road, plunging into a river, and 10 people were killed on the spot.
Three others died upon admission at Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare.
The victims are believed to have been cross-border traders from Zimbabwe who were travelling from Malawi.
Police are still investigating the accident that has left many in a state of shock.
“The Zimbabwe Republic Police is appealing to all drivers to be observant on the road and avoid speeding, especially at night,” Nyathi warned.
The three-axle bus was on a highway when it struck a five-axle tractor-trailer reversing along the roadside.
Officials sent a message of condolences to the families of those who died.
Zimbabwe has recorded over 19 000 road accidents since January, a ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development official said last week.
Allowance Sango, director of transport in the ministry, told a public transporters workshop that most accidents were attributed to human error.
Sango said as public service vehicle drivers, minibus drivers should be more regulated than private drivers because they deal with a lot of people every day.
Sango also revealed that police statistics indicate that as at June 30, 2014, there had been 19 284 accidents, resulting in 785 people perishing and 7 114 being injured.
He said of the 19 284 reported accidents, over 200 of them involved public service vehicles.