adminPamela Shumba Senior Reporter
A FORM One pupil was crushed to death while his friend sustained minor injuries after they were hit by a kombi in Bulawayo’s Cowdray Park suburb yesterday.
The 14-year-old Luveve High pupil, who cannot be named as his next of kin had not been informed yesterday, was standing on the roadside with his friend, Brighton Paradza, when a kombi rear-ended another, forcing it to veer off the road and killing the boy instantly.
Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Precious Simango said: “We received a report of an accident involving two kombis in Cowdray Park. One was going to the CBD (Central Business District) and the other was going to Nkulumane.”
She said one of the kombis stopped intending to pick up passengers before it was hit from the back by the other kombi.
“The kombi that was hit at the back veered off the road and hit the pupil who was standing on the roadside with a classmate. He died on the spot.”
Witnesses told The Chronicle that the accident occurred at about 2PM when the pupils were on their way home from school.
They said one of the drivers and his conductor fled from the scene after the accident.
“The kombis were speeding and they were too close to each other. The first one stopped suddenly and the driver of the second kombi applied brakes but it was too late, resulting in the accident. The first one veered off the road and hit the boy,” said a witness.
He said the pupil’s friend sustained minor injuries and was rushed to Mpilo Central Hospital for treatment.
Residents of Cowdray Park said the area, popularly known as Emagetsini, had become a black spot as many accidents were occurring there.
Online Reporter