adminPamela Shumba, Senior Reporter
The death toll in the horrific accident involving three haulage trucks at the 82km peg along Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road in Insuza on Saturday evening has risen to four.
The fourth victim, whose lower body was crushed, reportedly died in hospital.
One of the haulage trucks which was enroute from Zambia to Bulawayo is suspected to have sideswiped with a truck coming from Bulawayo before colliding head on with the second one, which was also coming from Bulawayo.
The accident, which occurred at about 7PM sparked a fire that burnt one of the drivers beyond recognition.
National police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi yesterday named three of the accident victims as Sibonginkosi Ncube (42) from Bulawayo and his co-driver Nkululeko Tshuma also from Bulawayo and Boyd Mweemba (40) who was a Zambian.
The road, which had been closed to motorists as there were fears that a gas tanker that was involved in the accident could explode, was finally opened to traffic at 2AM yesterday.
Bulawayo Fire Brigade divisional officer Mr Danmore Chimbadzwa, who attended the scene, said they had no option but to empty the gas tank.
“We managed to clear the road for motorists at 2AM after emptying the gas tank. The blocking of the road had created a traffic jam as some vehicles were bogged in sand, while driving through a detour in the bush.
“The gas was also exposing people to danger as it was leaking from the tank,” said Mr Chimbadzwa.
Bulawayo chief fire officer Mr Richard Peterson yesterday said investigations into the cause of the accident were underway.
Villagers in Insuza took advantage of the traffic jam that lasted more than 24 hours and made money after assisting motorists whose cars got stuck in the sand.
Motorists who spoke to Chronicle said they had to pay villagers up to $5 per vehicle to get assistance.
“We arrived at the scene at about 9PM and the road was still blocked. We realised that some cars were stuck in the sand but we had no option but to use the same detour.
“Our car was stuck before we were even halfway through the detour. The villagers quickly demanded $5 to pull the car to the other end. We paid and it took 30 minutes to pull the car out,” said Claude Sibanda, who was travelling from Victoria Falls to Bulawayo. — @pamelashumba1
Bongani Ndlovu