SIX passengers died on the spot and three others were badly injured after their Nissan Caravan kombi crashed with a Mercedes-Benz freight vehicle on the Beitbridge – Masvingo Highway near Rutenga in Mwenezi yesterday morning.
The accident happened about 5 a.m. at the 182km peg near the Zimbabwe Bio Energy turn-off after the Beitbridge-bound kombi encroached into the opposite lane and collided with a haulage truck traveling in the opposite direction.
The kombi had eight people, five of whom were females and one man.
Mr Isaac Mutambara, Mwenezi district development coordinator and chair of the civil protection unit, stated that the injured were brought to Neshuro District Hospital.
“Six people have been confirmed dead on the spot and three were seriously injured and are in hospital at Neshuro,” he said.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the accident in a statement.
“Six people were killed while three others were injured when a Nissan Caravan vehicle carrying eight passengers was involved in a head-on collision with a Mercedes Benz truck along Masvingo-Beitbridge Road. The bodies were taken to Masvingo Provincial Hospital mortuary for post-mortem while the injured were admitted to Neshuro District Hospital in Mwenezi,” he said.
Four of the deceased have since been identified by their next of kin. Those identified are Kamukono Musaida (44) a female adult of Chimanimani, Blessing Rambiwa (40) a male adult of 1530 Chiredzi, Jesina Masimba (35) a female adult of Maware Village, Chiredzi and Pellagia Manase (53) a female adult of 247 Chiredzi
Meanwhile, police have confirmed another fatal road accident which occurred at the 7-kilometre peg along Eastern Border Road in Chipinge on Monday in which three people were killed while three others were injured when a Toyota Corolla Axio vehicle with five passengers on board veered off the road before overturning and landing on its right side.
As a result, three passengers died on the spot after being thrown out of the vehicle.
