Story by Peter Chivhima
18 people have been killed in three separate road traffic accidents since the beginning of the festive season holiday.
The festive holiday has started on a bad note with 18 people having perished in road traffic accidents since the 15th of this month.
This comes after nine people were burnt beyond recognition this Monday when two Honda Fit vehicles collided head-on before bursting into flames along Harare-Mukumbura Highway near Mazowe Citrus.
In another accident, three people were killed on Sunday evening along Mutare – Juliasdale Road.
On Friday, six people were also killed, while 10 sustained injuries along the Harare-Bulawayo Road near Warren Park suburb in Harare.
The accident occurred when a Toyota Hiace commuter omnibus with 15 passengers on board collided head-on with a Nissan Caravan commuter omnibus carrying three passengers and heading to the capital city.
In an interview with ZBC News this Monday, Zimbabwe Republic Police National Spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi called on drivers to be more cautious on the roads.
“The ZRP confirms a fatal road traffic accident which occurred this morning along Harare-Mukumbura Road near Mazowe this morning around 2 am. The accident occurred when two Honda Fit vehicles collided head-on.
“What happened is that a Honda Fit which was heading towards Bindura with four passengers encroached into the opposite lane and thereby collided head-on with another Honda Fit which had seven people. As a result, 9 people died on the spot while three were injured. We can also confirm that other three people died along Mutare-Juliasdale Road, so the holiday has started on a bad note. We always implore drivers to be cautious on the roads to save lives.”
On Thursday last week, the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe together with the stakeholders in the transport sector launched the festive season road safety campaign.
