Mystery surrounds PCJ bus accident

Tafadzwa Kadani recently in Selous
Mystery still surrounds the road traffic accident that saw a herd of 33 cows being ploughed into by a PCJ bus that was en-route to Harare from Gaborone, Botswana.
The Sunday Mail Extra recently visited Sanyangore Farm, just outside Selous, also known as Halfway, to establish what actually transpired.
From the narrations that were done by the herd-boys, it is still difficult to put together what could have gone wrong on the fateful day.
This publication established that as per practice, an advance team of two herd-boys always go to the highway to stop traffic coming to and from Harare. One stands on either side of the road stopping the motorists.
The advance team positions itself about 100 metres from the cattle’s crossing point, raising red flags.
The 100 metres is deliberate, as the herd-boys narrated, such that if any motorist misses the flag, they would still have enough distance and time to react, before coming to the crossing animals.
Therefore on the day in question, one herd-boy was stopping the traffic that was coming from Harare whilst the other one was stopping the Harare-bound traffic.
Yet the 72-seater bus ploughed through the herd of cattle, killing about 18 cows at once.
How then did this happen?
“We have been doing this for over a year my brother and we have not encountered such an incident before,” narrated Vengai Chivhera, one of the herd-boys who was on duty that day. “When we take them to the other side of the road we are very careful and there is a certain procedure that we follow before the cattle cross over.”
As per tradition and custom, a team of four men accompanied the cattle. Two of them went in advance and cleared the road using their flags on the highway. “On the day in question, we stopped the cattle about 450m away from the gate and started flagging down the cars,” explained Vengai.
It was business as usual as they swiftly waved their flags up and down, which should be a signal for one to slow down and stop but this was not so for the PCJ bus driver.
And the Sanyangore farm workers were not anticipating any danger.
“All in all we had about 183 cattle and they formed four rows as they crossed the road,” Vengai said.
From the cattle’s crossing point, it is somewhat a hilltop view and one can easily see cattle from about a kilometre or two away. “The driver should have seen the flag and the ‘cattle ahead’ sign from a distance. lt is a mystery when you think of the distance that the bus travelled before getting to the herd of cattle,” said the farm foreman, Smart Kanyenda.
According to some accounts from the people who were on the scene soon after the tragedy, the PCJ bus driver said he only saw the flag when he was too close to the person who was waving it.
Some accounts say that the driver has a poor eyesight.
Some narrated how the passengers in the bus panicked, and in anticipation of a fatal crash, moved to the back of the bus to cushion themselves.
However, The Sunday Mail Extra could not reach the driver to get his side of the story.
Some have been quick to raise suspicions of black magic – though it is not clear who could have used the black magic, the bus owner or the cattle owner. But what still boggles the minds of many is how the bus managed to plough through the herd of cattle and still managed to remain on its wheels.
“The cattle that were under the bus actually saved the bus driver and passengers from what would have been a fatal accident as the animals acted as brakes for the bus. The bus dragged the cattle for a distance of about 80m before stopping,” explained Mr Kanyenda.
All the bus passengers were not injured while the bus only sustained damages to the fender and radiator.
“Twenty-two cattle died on the spot, 11 were seriously injured and had to be pulled down. The number of cows that died has since risen to 33,” lamented Mr Kanyenda.
In order to dispose of the meat quickly, the farm sold the beef at a give-away price 0,50c per kilogramme.
But what is even more interesting is that on the same day, another bus from the same company, this time travelling from Harare, stopped so that the crew could investigate what had happened to their colleagues.
The Sunday Mail Extra established that the bus fell on its side, on its own, and passengers had to get out through the windows.
“As the bus was parked by the side of the road, it fell on its side and people had to lift it up,” explained one of the witnesses who reside in the area.
Mr Sanyangore, the farm owner, said he could not comment and will await for police findings for a way forward.