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in two separate accidents in Beitbridge at the weekend, police confirmed yesterday.
The latest accident occurred yesterday at around 3.45am at a rail crossing point on the Beitbridge-Masvingo Road when a loaded South African registered haulage truck rammed into a goods train.
The Officer Commanding Police in Beitbridge District, Chief Superintendent Lawrence Chinhengo said the driver of the truck belonging to Davline Transport trucking company of South Africa, failed to give way to the approaching goods train.
“The driver was coming from South Africa and was on his way to Chirundu Border Post en-route to Zambia carrying a consignment of steel rods, which were destined for that country. It looks like on approaching a rail crossing point, he failed to stop despite a signal from the engineman driving the locomotive resulting in a collision,” he said.
Two people died on the spot, the truck driver and a female passenger after they were trapped in the wreckage. Three of the passengers who were rescued sustained injuries and they were rushed to Beitbridge District Hospital where one of them was further referred to Bulawayo. The other one, John Kokerai (28) was treated and discharged.
However, police said no one from the goods train was injured. The bodies of the two victims were taken to the same hospital mortuary awaiting postmortem.
Chief Supt Chinhengo said the haulage truck was dragged off the road for about 10 metres. He however, could not release the names of the deceased persons, saying they were yet to inform their next of kin.
The goods train, which was towing empty wagons, was coming from Bulawayo and heading to South Africa.
One of the victims, Action Jaravaza (35) sustained a fractured left arm and a deep cut on the chin, while the other one, Liliosa Mawenga is still admitted at Beitbridge District Hospital where her condition is reported to be stable.
When Chronicle news team arrived at the scene of the accident yesterday morning, the flow of both southward and northward bound traffic had been virtually blocked as rescue teams from the police and workers from the Beitbridge-Bulawayo Railway Company, Beitbridge Town Council and National Railways of Zimbabwe frantically made efforts to remove the trapped bodies from the wreckage of the truck.
An eyewitness, Mr Joseph Moyo said the truck driver was speeding resulting in him failing to stop at the rail crossing point.
“The goods train blew the horn several times, but the truck did not stop and the next thing I heard was a deafening sound as the locomotive and the truck collided and it was so shocking and devastating,” he said.
In the other accident that occurred on Saturday at around 6am near Makhado area, about 80km out of Beitbridge, Chief Supt Chinhengo said three people were killed two of them on the spot when the driver of a South African registered GVM K2D pick up truck they were travelling in lost control of the car resulting in it veering off the road and hitting a tree. The incident occurred at a 233km peg along the Beitbridge-Bulawayo Road.
The vehicle was coming from Bulawayo and heading towards Beitbridge with four people onboard.
Chief Supt Chinhengo identified the deceased as Michael Sibanda (35), Manayi Sibanda (92) both of Nketa in Bulawayo and Collen Ncube (30) of Dulibadzimu Township in Beitbridge. Ncube died on his way to the hospital from severe head injuries.
The injured, Dumisani Ncube sustained a fractured right arm, bruises on the face and head injuries and he was taken to the local hospital. “We continue to urge motorists to adhere to the stipulated traffic rules and regulations to avoid the recurrence of such incidents in which lives are unnecessarily lost,” said Chief Supt Chinhengo.
Online Reporter