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Walter Nyamukondiwa
Kariba Bureau
Air Rhodesia Flight 825, code-named Hunyani, crashed in Sengwe, Hurungwe on September 3, 1978 after being hit by a Russian made Strella 2 missile shortly after take-off from Kariba International Airport.
These were the decisive stages of the liberation struggle and more than 50 passengers and crew members died. Three people are understood to have survived.
Some five months later, another Air Rhodesia plane, Flight 827, code-named Umniati was also hit by guerrillas in rugged Matusadonha, near Nyangwizhu in Hurungwe.
It fell in the Vuti area between Karoi town and Makuti.
Recently, The Herald visited Hurungwe to get accounts of the people who witnessed the shot Air Rhodesia plane crash in Sengwe.
Mr Alfred Chiware of Murereshi area said he first heard a thudding sound of heavy fire before spotting the plane smoking.
Air Rhodesia Flight 825, a Vickers Viscount plane had been hit!
“I still recall that we were at home when we heard a sound of heavy fire and what seemed like an explosion. The plane careered past our homestead before it started descending fast towards Chief Nyamhunga’s area in Sengwe.
“There was some smoke coming from the left wing. It was something spectacular but not really surprising because we had been in a war situation for a long time,” said Mr Chiware.
Guerrillas from Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (Zipra), the military wing of Zimbabwe African People’s Union (Zapu), crossed into the country using a northern front from Zambia and used Hurungwe and Kariba districts as their turf.
On that fateful Sunday, guerrillas laid an ambush in the Matusadonha Mountain range and shot down the plane.
The majority of passengers died on impact as the plane crash landed.
However, others reportedly managed to escape from the wreckage before it exploded into a ball of fire that was seen by several witnesses in the area bound by Masanga, Sengwe, Murereshi, Karambazungu and Nyangwizhu among others. Some passengers reportedly managed to escape the scene of the crash.
Mr Gift Mafinya of Sengwe under Chief Nyamhunga said the impact and explosion of the plane could be heard several kilometres from the crash site.
He said the plane seemed to be moving south eastwards before it changed direction southward after its left wing fell off.
It landed on its left side.
People could see the remaining wing from a distance.
“After the crash, there was a ball of fire and thick black smoke that turned the area into night.
“Some of the passengers survived and decided to look for water in the nearby Kamoyo KaSengwe River. In about 30 minutes, guerrillas arrived at the scene and we heard gunfire,” said Mr Mafinya.
He said one of the women who survived was assisted by a villager identified as Caiphus but did not know her fate afterwards.
The following day, on Monday September 4, 1978 Rhodesian forces descended on the area seeking answers to what had caused the crash.
A reconnaissance plane hovered around the area of the crash before helicopters came in about three hours later.
Vehicles and motorbikes also arrived and Mr Mafinya, a relative of Chief Nyamhunga, who was opening the cattle pen for grazing encountered the Rhodesia infantry soldiers.
It was a nasty encounter, which he recalls to this date.
“We first saw a small plane we called Kadidiya, which flies at high altitude before two helicopters, army vehicles and motorbikes arrived about three hours later.
“People were harassed and beaten, while being asked about who had carried out the attack and who was harbouring the Zipra guerrillas. I told them I don’t know anything about who was responsible but they severely assaulted me,” he said.
They proceeded to the crash site.
Flight 825 had come from Victoria Falls with tourists and business people and stopped over at Kariba Airport before taking off around 5pm with 56 passengers and crew but was hit about five minutes after take-off.
A visit to the crash site shows that relics of the plane have been scattered and consumed by time.
“Until about seven years ago, some of the remains of the plane were on the crash site but scrap metal dealers and members of the apostolic sect started taking away the metal sheets to make their artefacts,” said Tichaona Nhau.
Two helicopters and a plane that came from Harare later crashed, separately around the Viscount crash site.
“Two helicopters crashed while hoovering around the crash site but no one was injured. However, another small plane with two couples crash landed along Sengwe Road but they did not sustain serious injuries. They were treated at Sengwe clinic,” said Mr Nhau. Another villager, 71-year old Herbert Mhukayesango said the guerrillas did not take long to surround the crash scene.
“We saw the plane from the mountains near Nyangwizhu and it fell in Chief Nyamhunga’s area in Sengwe,” he said.
“It seems like the freedom fighters knew that the plane would crash as they arrived on the scene within minutes.”
He contends that three people, one female and two males managed to escape attacks by the guerrillas and walked to Karoi.
One of the survivors reportedly came to the area looking for a man who helped her escape.
However, he could not locate the man identified as Caiphus after several people claimed to be him. Another Air Rhodesia plane, a Vickers Viscount crashed near Vuti on 12 February 1979 after being hit again by a Strella 2 missile just after take-off at Kariba Airport about five months later.
The plane was on a return leg of the Harare to Kariba route.
Villagers in Hurungwe could recount at least six incidents where Rhodesian forces air superiority was tested with mostly helicopters being felled.
The crash scenes would be combed with the wreckage being carted away.
Realising the threat of the guerrillas, which had a heavy toll on Rhodesians, the Rhodesian Air force launched raids into Zambia targeting Zipra training camps at Mkushi, Chikumbi and Freedom Camp.
It also led to attacks on the New Chimoio Camp after the first one was destroyed in a raid.
Several operations were launched including Operation Gaitling and Operation Snoopy in a bid to neutralise the growing momentum of the liberation movements.
Hurungwe District was the crucible of the struggle and carries harrowing tales of indiscriminate attacks with the Maramba family losing seven members during a raid at the Nyamakuti homestead where 38 people were massacred one evening in 1978.
Rhodesian forces swooped on the homestead where people were attending a traditional ceremony (bira) and shelled indiscriminately with some being killed by bombs.
Headman Gomore, Munetsi Matamba recounted the horror of losing seven family members in one night.
“It happened 43 years ago but the pain is still felt today. We later found out that Maiwepi had sold us to the Rhodesian forces and to ensure that we are easy targets he had convinced everyone to attend the traditional ceremony at the Nyamakuti homestead,” said headman Gomore.
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