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Thupeyo Muleya BEITBRIDGE BUREAU
Scores of Malawians were seriously injured when a Nyali Luxury Coaches bus they were travelling in side-swiped with a Mazda 323 some 20 kilometres outside Musina town in the early hours of today.
The incident occurred along the N1 highway, and the bus was reportedly travelling from Johannesburg to Malawi via Zimbabwe.
Witnesses said the incident occurred at around 2 am and that several passengers had broken limbs, including the bus driver.
“The injured have been taken to Musina hospital for treatment. We arrived at the scene shortly after the incident. No deaths were reported yet, though many passengers incurred serious injuries.
“Indications are that the bus trailer side-swiped with a small vehicle which was travelling in the opposite direction, and it veered off the road and landed on its side partially blocking the road, ” said a witness Mr Cleto Zharare.
Mr Zharare said the bus was carrying mainly potatoes and over 60 car batteries.
He said they suspected the accident could have been a result of overloading.
Musina police spokesperson, Constable Dakalo Ramagweda confirmed the incident saying she was yet to get more details.
The N1 highway has become a death trap for many Zimbabweans and citizens from countries north of the Zambezi River.
Last year, over 30 Zimbabweans were killed in several road accidents along the same highway between Musina town and the city of Johannesburg.
Recently, 50 Zimbabweans were injured some of them seriously, when the driver of a Greyhound bus they were travelling in lost control and it overturned near Luis Trichardt town in South Africa’s Limpopo province.
The bus was travelling from Johannesburg to Bulawayo with 50 people on bound including the bus crew.
The N1 highway is one of the busiest roads in South Africa as it links that country to the rest of Africa, and it is the route which handles a lot of commercial cargo movement.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter