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Zupco bus driver.
Another driver said drivers always exercise caution when approaching the curves.
“This is not a stretch you can pass while speeding. It is always imperative for one to be extra careful considering the number of accidents we encounter in that area,” he said.
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Early Monday morning, 21 people — including the driver and his conductor — were killed when a Megalink coach veered off the road and crashed into a tree near Ngundu Growth Point along the Masvingo- Beitbridge Road.
All 21 bodies have since been collected for burial.
The bus driver reportedly failed to negotiate a curve 92km from Masvingo at around 2am.
Former long-standing member of the Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe, Elsworth Benhura, died in the crash.
A Harare family lost two children, aged six and two-months-old, in the accident.
Annette and Alliyah Chin’onzo were buried on Wednesday at Warren Hills Cemetery.
The children’s mother, Mrs Lynnette Chin’onzo (28), who suffered severe injuries in the same accident could not attend the burial because her condition is critical.
Her sister, Mrs Letwin Shayamuranda (26), who was also injured in the same accident, is receiving treatment at Parirenyatwa Hospital.
They were on their way to Beitbridge to meet Mrs Chin’onzo’s husband, Mr Kenneth Chin’onzo.
Mrs Chin’onzo’s brother Mr Zebediah Musvipa said he took the four to Roadport Bus Terminus on Sunday night, but could not find any buses.
“We took them to Mbudzi (along Simon Mazorodze Road) where we saw two Megalink buses,” said Mr Musvipa.
“One of them was travelling to South Africa, while the other was destined for Beitbridge.”
Mr Musvipa said Mrs Chin’onzo, Mrs Shayamuranda, Annette and Alliyah boarded the Beitbridge-bound bus, which left at around 9:30pm.
“At around 2:45am I received a call from another passenger asking me if I was Letwin’s father,” he said.
“The person informed me that they had been involved in an accident and Letwin was bleeding profusely. By that time they said they had spent almost an hour without any assistance and asked us if we could come to the area.”
Mr Musvipa said he asked to talk to Mrs Shayamuranda who by that time could not find Mrs Chin’onzo and the children.
Mr Musvipa, his wife and their two children were later helped by a well-wisher who took them to Masvingo General Hospital where they saw Mrs Shayamuranda being admitted.
They could not find Mrs Chin’onzo at the hospital, so they drove to the accident scene where there was a Fire Brigade crew “doing nothing” while the bus was still lying on its back.
A recovery vehicle later arrived at the scene and lifted the bus, making it possible for bodies to be retrieved.
They identified Alliyah’s body, but could not locate Mrs Chin’onzo and Annette.
“We drove to Ngundu Clinic where some of the injured had been taken, but again we failed to locate the two before driving back to Masvingo General Hospital where we sought the assistance of a doctor,” Mr Musvipa said.
They later saw Mrs Chin’onzo being attended to at the hospital before being shown Annette’s body.
Mrs Chin’onzo, Mrs Shayamuranda and seven other people who were seriously injured, were later airlifted to Parirenyatwa Hospital by the Air Force of Zimbabwe.
Mr Musvipa said they visited Parirenyatwa Hospital where a doctor discharged Mrs Chin’onzo, saying that she was in good condition.
“We decided to take her to West End Clinic where she was admitted again and is undergoing treatment,” said Mr Musvipa.
“Yesterday (Wednesday) we asked the doctors to let her go for the burial of her children, but they refused saying she was still not well.”
Mr Musvipa said they were told that the driver was speeding.
Police in Masvingo yesterday said the last four bodies were collected on Wednesday after they were identified by relatives.
Acting Masvingo police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Charity Mazula, said the four were Susan Tarugarira (age not given) of Unit D in Seke, Martin Nyoka (33), Gift Sithole (32) and Loice Mapuranga (33) whose places of origin were not given.
“All the 21 bodies have now been identified and collected by their relatives for burial. The last body to be collected from the mortuary belonged to Loice Mapuranga and it was collected by her relatives on Wednesday afternoon, meaning that all the victims of the horror crash have been collected,” she said.
The horrific accident heightened calls for Government to speed up the dualisation of the Harare-Beitbridge Highway, while some Government officials warned long distance bus operators to stick to their timetables since dualisation would not have stopped Monday’s accident; a bus going off a road would go off regardless of how many lanes were in each direction.
Online Reporter