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Midlands Reporters
FOUR people died when a Zupco bus with 28 passengers on board was swept away at a bridge and plunged into the flooded Musavezi River along the Shurugwi-Mhandamabwe road early yesterday morning. The incident happened at around 3AM near Mukandapi Business Centre in Tongogara District, 22km outside Shurugwi.
The other 24 people on the bus, mainly cross-border traders, survived the accident unhurt, but the driver escaped with minor injuries.
Two bodies – of a male and female – were discovered near the wreckage in the morning while two others – that of an elderly woman and a minor – who had been declared missing, were found some distance following a search.
The passengers were trapped in the bus for about two hours in raging flood waters before being rescued.
The Zupco bus was travelling from Musina, South Africa, on its way to Gokwe.
The majority of the passengers saved their lives by heroically clinging on to rails and seats to avoid drowning while others used the sun-roofs to find sanctuary on the roof of the bus.
The road was split into three, making it impossible for traffic from Shurugwi going to Masvingo or vice-versa to pass.
According to survivors, among the deceased were an elderly woman and an 11-year-old boy whose mother was injured in the accident and taken to Zvishavane District Hospital.
Police’s sub-aqua team retrieved the deceased bodies.
“I was asleep and woke up after I heard some screams. I got the shock of my life as the bus was literally rolling in water. Water was pouring in through the windows. We had to hang on to some rails and seats to save ourselves,” said Edson Banhire from Gokwe.
Banhire said the bus was swept away for a distance of about 10 metres before it landed on its left side.
He said the passengers quickly opened the bus’ sun roof and asked a group of other passengers to sit on the right side of the carrier so as to balance the bus and stop it from overturning.
When a Chronicle news team arrived at the scene around 9AM, the two bodies had been retrieved from the flooded river and were lying by the road side while the majority of other passengers including the driver had been rushed to Zvishavane District Hospital.
The police later ferried the bodies of the deceased to their truck while a number of ambulances were taking the injured to Zvishavane Hospital.
A number of villagers who were visibly shell-shocked were also at the scene as they tried to comprehend what had transpired.
Some of the survivors were still searching for their luggage while others were in the process of identifying their goods with the help of the police.
A few of the survivors that were still at the scene looked dejected as they sat close to some of the recovered goods.
While a few of the survivors were mourning the loss of their travelling documents and other belongings, others were celebrating the gift of life after narrowly escaping from the jaws of death.
“I am a cross border trader and survive on selling goods like clothes and furniture to the public. All my stuff has been swept away by the water. My passport has been spoiled but I want to thank God for deciding otherwise because we could have all died”, said Erica Mashonga who was on her to Kwekwe.
She added: “It’s a miracle that I stand here alive retelling my story to you after spending close to two hours clinging on my seat in a sinking bus. It is difficult for me to relate what really transpired because I was asleep when the incident occurred. When I woke up the bus was floating in the flooded river and everyone was clinging on his or her seat.”
Vengesai Mhemachena of Baby Girl Cross Border Transport who arrived moments after the disaster said he was shocked by the behaviour exhibited by the crew of a Harare bus company, Sharon Bus Company, which made a U-turn and left the Zupco passengers screaming for help in the flooded river as they fought for dear life.
“We might be rivals in the transport business but the behaviour exhibited by the Sharon Bus crew which was travelling just behind the Zupco bus was shocking to say the least. They ignored the Zupco passengers as they battled for life. They were the ones who informed us of the disaster as they were making a U-turn from the flooded river,” said Nhemachena.
He said he stopped his bus and together with his passengers used some torch lights from their phones to rescue the marooned Zupco passengers.
“They were screaming at the top of their voices for help while trapped in the bus which had landed on its left side in the river. What we did was to hold each other while standing in a long queue as we pulled the passengers out of the flooded river.
We first pulled out those passengers who were seated on top of the bus. This is how we managed to rescue them,” he said.
The heroics of the passengers went further as they braved the roaring river in search of their missing colleagues.
Among the search part was Talent Munyaka of Mbizo, Kwekwe.
He narrates his experience: “We came across the first body, that of the young woman, at a distance of about 300 metres from the bus. We then found the second body of dread-locked young man about 1km away. We were four of us and we decided to turn back after that as we were tired. We informed the fire fighting team who in turn engaged the police.”
Police Officer Commanding Gweru Rural, Chief Superintendent Conrad Mubaiwa described the accident as unfortunate.
He warned motorist and bus drivers against crossing flooded rivers.
“The incident is disheartening. We have two confirmed deaths after retrieving the bodies from the flooded river. We are still searching for the two missing passengers. Chances are they could have drowned and their bodies washed away. We will keep searching. Let me take this opportunity to warn motorists and drivers of public transport to always avoid crossing flooded rivers,” he said.
Chief Sup Mubaiwa said motorists intending to connect to either Masvingo or Beitbridge via the Shurugwi-Mhandamahwe road should use alternative routes.
The Shurugwi-Mhandamabwe road was no longer passable after the bridge was left isolated from the road.
Online Reporter