Zimbabwe News Online: Army bus and Kombi Fatal Accident  claims 16 lives

Army bus and Kombi Fatal Accident  claims 16 lives
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H metro on 01 June, 2010 05:32:00
 
The accident occurred at around 4:30pm, 45 kilometres from Chinhoyi towards
Harare along the Chinhoyi-Harare Highway. H-Metro was on the scene of the
accident when it occurred and witnessed the rescue team as it struggled to
retrieve the bodies of the deceased from the wreckage.
It was a sobering and gory sight. All the deceased were travelling in the
omnibus. Only three passengers, who were seated at the back seat in the omnibus
are believed to have survived and were rushed to Parirenyatwa Hospital. About 14
passengers in the military bus sustained minor injuries.
Their condition was said to be extremely critical although there was no
immediate position from the hospital. Their condition could not be ascertained
at the time of going to print but authorities could not rule out the possibility
of the figure of the deceased rising as the critically injured could possibly
need life support and intensive care to recover.
H-Metro conducted an independent physical count of the deceased numbering 16 -a
figure which was confirmed by the police when they made their own independent
count. According to eyewitnesses, the white commuter omnibus with blue stripes
(registration AB6889) was heading to Harare. The driver of the omnibus is said
to have tried to overtake two cars with little leverage to return into its own
lane.
The omnibus failed to return to the lane after which it rammed into the oncoming
army bus which was in its legitimate lane. The military bus was heading towards
the direction of Chinhoyi. It (the Army bus) was however believed to have been
destined for the nearby Inkomo Barracks.
“The kombi driver tried to overtake two cars without realising that there was
oncoming traffic. “So when both drivers (kombi and Army bus) realised their
predicament, it was too late to avoid a head on collision,” said one female
eyewitness who was sobbing. While she knew nobody on the omnibus, she confessed
that she was sobbing after seeing the maimed lifeless corpse of the little
toddler which lay on the dry winter grass beside the wreckage.
H-Metro arrived at the scene just minutes after the rescue team had arrived and
it took more than an hour for the rescue team to retrieve the bodies because
most of them were trapped in the wreckage. The omnibus is believed to be owned
by one G. Munetsi of Bag 9 2B Woolwich Road in Willowvale (according to the
address on the mangled omnibus).
It also had an inscription written ‘Sweetness’ on the side and it is
believed to usually ply the City-Highfield route. When H-Metro left the scene,
only 13 bodies were retrieved but the rescue operation was still in progress.
The policemen present were not in a position to issue any official comment since
they were still busy counting the bodies and searching for the identities of the
deceased.
Paramedics were up until last night open to the prospect of the death toll
rising. Last week, a local musician Alexio Kawara survived a car crash in the
same road. ***For more photos of combined on-the-spot reaction to the accident
by paramedics and H-Metro, see the picture gallery below and follow the news as
it unfolds.