adminFaith Mabuto Midlands Reporter
TWENTY-NINE Zupco passengers are lucky to be alive after their bus veered off the road and rammed into a tree along the Bulawayo-Harare highway yesterday.
The accident occurred at the 369km peg at around 4.30AM.
The bus was on its way to Bulawayo from Mutare. Seven people were injured.
Four ambulances rushed the injured to the United Bulawayo Hospitals for treatment.
The rest of the passengers were transferred to another bus which Zupco sent to proceed with the journey.
Eyewitnesses said the bus swerved off the road and rammed into a tree, injuring seven people.
“It appears the brakes failed and the driver lost control.
“The bus was stopped by a tree and flipped over and landed on its right side after the impact,” one witness said.
A report earlier this year by the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) said 94 percent of fatal accidents on the country’s roads are caused by drivers’ error.
Last year, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development revealed that more than 30,000 people were killed in road accidents between 1997 and 2013.
MPs listed 12 other causes of road accidents in the country that include bad state of roads, speeding, drunken driving, fatigue and use of cellphones when driving.
The use of second hand tyres, stationary and defective vehicles as well as stray animals on the roads, inadequate road signage and markings as well as lack of traffic enforcement were also mentioned.
Online Reporter