Chronicle Editor
TWO people died and their bodies were burnt beyond recognition in a head-on collision involving two South African registered haulage trucks on the 60 kilometre peg along the Bulawayo – Victoria Falls Road on Wednesday night.
The Bulawayo Fire Brigade swiftly attended the accident scene sightly over 40 minutes later, to extinguish a raging fire after the accident.
Preliminary indications are that there were no passengers in either truck. Police are yet to ascertain the identities of the deceased, according to Bulawayo Fire Brigade acting chief fire officer Mr Mhlangano Moyo.
“The accident occured at the 60 kilometre peg along the Bulawayo – Victoria Falls Road. The Bulawayo Fire Brigade received the call on Wednesday night at 23:30 hours and attended this scene at 00:14 hours. The South African registered trucks had been involved in a head on collision in the centre of the highway and caught fire on impact,” said Mr Moyo.
“The fire brigade observed a body burnt beyond recognition from each haulage truck so we assume they were the drivers but we will wait for conclusive investigations to determine the identity of the deceased
“The trucks were in flames when the fire fighters got to the scene.
” The truck heading towards Victoria Falls was traveling on the wrong side of the lane hence the collision. There were persons trapped in the haulage trucks with one from each of the vehicles. They were burnt beyond recognition of which only body remains were recovered,” he said.
The Brigade used specialised equipment to extinguish the fire and retrieve the burnt remains of the two accident victims.
They used two high pressure hose reels and one jet to extinguish the fire and also used jaws of life rescue tools to gain access to remove the bodies from the entangled horses of the haulage trucks. The haulage trucks are both South African registered,” he said.
While engaged in rescue and fire fighting efforts the Fire Brigade cordoned off the road to ensure safe operations.
Online Reporter