Online Reporter
Freeman Razemba
Senior Reporter
TEN people were killed yesterday morning when a Honda Fit collided head-on with a haulage truck along the Harare-Nyamapanda Road.
All 10 aboard the Honda Fit died on the spot, confirmed national police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi, who said the accident happened at the 185km peg along Harare-Nyamapanda Road near Suswe area between 11.30am and 12 noon.
The Fit was travelling from Mutoko to Kotwa, while the haulage truck was travelling to Harare with four occupants.
“It is alleged that the Honda Fit encroached onto the lane of oncoming traffic, resulting in the collision.”
The accident comes soon after the launch of the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe’s (TSCZ) festive season road safety campaign at Gosha Primary School, located near Juru Business Centre, yesterday.
At the event, Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona said the festive season, which is associated with merrymaking, has arrived.
Said Minister Mhona: “We all know that the festive season is synonymous with excessive excitement as we celebrate the gift of life and the reincarnation of our faith and moral values.
“All these factors create unfortunate occurrences of fatalities on our roads. This requires heightened road safety awareness and law enforcement to ensure that every road user reaches their destination alive. “The high volume of traffic during this period across our national road network requires all road users to exercise extreme caution and vigilance.”
On average, five people die on the roads each day, translating to around 153 deaths per month and approximately 2 000 fatalities annually.
Similarly, 38 people are injured daily on the roads, amounting to about 13 680 injuries each year. Minister Mhona said the country loses approximately US$406 million annually due to an average of 40 000 road traffic accidents each year, translating to 3 percent of GDP lost due to road crashes.
“These figures remain high and call for our diligence. I personally attended to several accident scenes throughout the country, and it is painful that we were robbed of lives.
“On behalf of Government and indeed on my own behalf, allow me to express our heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased and those who got injured in the accidents,” he said.
