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Survivors of the Unki Mine bus accident say they are in the dark as to what transpired in the Sunday mishap which claimed the lives of four of their colleagues.
They said most of them were fast asleep as they usually do when coming from night shift.
Four Unki Mine employees were killed and 65 others injured when the company bus that was taking them to their respective homes flipped into Muteveki River at around 5AM, 9km from the Unki Mine plant. However, only 45 were admitted after sustaining varying degrees of injuries, while the remaining 20 were treated and discharged for minor injuries.
The bus, which is owned by a contract transport company Scanlink (Private Limited) hired by Unki, was on its way to Shurugwi and Gweru from Unki Mines, ferrying employees who had knocked off duty.
Martin Ncube, a belt attendant said he only woke up when the bus was rolling backwards before falling into the river.
He said: “Most of us don’t really know what happened. We usually pass through the bridge while asleep. I only woke up after I heard some noise. By then the bus was now rolling backwards. Things happened so fast, some passengers were falling on top of me. I was sitting at the back, just behind the wheels. I sustained internal injuries.”
Ncube said he heard from someone that the bus first hit the edge of the bridge and started rolling back.
“It was a nightmarish experience,” he said.
For Nyaradzo Zvoushe, a general hand and one of the few females on board the company bus, those who escaped death did so through the grace of God.
She said: “God will help us recover, we will all recover.”
Zvoushe was one of the many injured workers who were visibly in pain and had difficulties in talking.
Ignatius Mpofu, a bolter operator, was asleep.
He only realised the danger only after the bus had flipped. “We were relaxed and this is routine to us. We sleep and relax mostly when we are from night shift,” said Mpofu who is admitted at Clay Bank Clinic.
Most of the injured were showing signs of improving.
One such man was Tedius Tshuma who burst some intestines and had complications in breathing.
He said he was breathing with ease by yesterday.
A brave Ronnie Chikohomero, an overseer miner, had a cracked rib, broken collarbone, a swollen neck and was experiencing some chest pains but said his condition was improving.
All the patients interviewed told the same story that they saw nothing prior to the accident as they were asleep.
Gweru Provincial Hospital’s private wards and Clay Bank’s casualty wing were taken up mostly by the injured Unki mine employees.
Most were bed-ridden with chest pains, broken arms, cracked ribs and collar bones. Many of them sustained injuries on their left side.
Minister of State for Provincial Affairs in the Midlands, Cde Jason Machaya, yesterday visited the injured workers admitted to Gweru Provincial Hospital and Clay Bank Clinic.
He said the province was still trying to come to terms with the loss of key workers at Unki Mine and the injury to many others.
“As government, we are really sorry about the accident. We don’t know what exactly caused the accident. We also don’t understand the timing, why it happened at the bridge of all places. We can only pray for the quick recovery of the injured. We also would want to console the bereaved families. We share their grief as government,” said Cde Machaya.
He urged motorists and other road users to always exercise caution when on the country’s roads so as to avoid unnecessary loss of lives.
Unki Mine general manager, Walter Nemasasi, also visited the injured workers and wished them a quick recovery.
He said as of yesterday, 40 workers were still admitted to various hospitals in Gweru and Harare. “We have 32 of the injured admitted to various hospitals in Gweru. Eight are admitted in Harare. We have five of our injured workers on High Dependent Unit; three of them are in Harare while two are here in Gweru. We wish them a quick recovery,” said Nemasasi.
He said it was difficult to come up with the exact figure of the injured as some who were not on the bus later came forward claiming they were injured while trying to rescue the accident victims.
Only two weeks back, Unki Mines marked two million fatality free shifts since August 2004.
At the beginning of this month, four other people were killed in the same district, Shurugwi, when a Zupco bus travelling from Messina in South Africa with 28 passengers was swept away at a bridge and plunged into a flooded Musavezi River along the Shurugwi-Mhandamabwe road.
Online Reporter