One surviving passenger who spoke to The Zimbabwean in a telephone interview said the driver lost control of the vehicle when the rear tyre burst due to the bad state of the road.
“The driver might have tried to avoid potholes on the road in trying to control the vehicle to a safe parking place soon after the tyre had burst. However, in the process he lost control of the vehicle which then hit a tree before overturning,” said the passenger who requested not to be named.
Midlands police spokesperson Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko also confirmed the accident.
“The commuter omnibus of a Nissan Caravan make was being driven by one Frank Lupiya of Pfupajena surbub of Chegutu,” he said.
“Preliminary investigations show that the driver was travelling above the recommended speed limits,” added Mahoko.
The police spokesperson also revealed that four people perished on the spot and two on their way to Sanyati Hospital. The other two were pronounced dead upon arrival at kadoma General Hospital.
Mahoko refused to disclose names of the deceased saying their next of kin would have to be the first to have the details before they could be released to the media.
A fortnight ago, a Zanu (PF) provincial executive member, Maxwell Madarani, also died in a road accident along a road connecting to Gokwe. The incident happened at the 22Km peg along the Gokwe-Kwekwe.
All roads that connect with Gokwe are characterised by heavy presence of haulage trucks transporting cotton from the town and as result have become deplorable due to non-maintenance. The worst affected route is the Gokwe-Nembudziya road whose maintenance was last done ahead of the 2 000 elections when the constituency MP, Flora Bhuka (Zanu PF) was campaigning for her first term in parliament. However, though she still represents the people of Nembudziya, she has not pushed for completion of the project.
A bridge at Masererukwe shopping center few kilometres from Mtora Growth point, was swept away by rains in 2006 and up to now nothing has been done to replace it.
Post published in: News