Nyamakate bus disaster revisited
PORTIA Toreva (25) struggles to contain tears as she narrates the last moments she had with her husband Norbert (33). Nobert along with 42 others perished in the Nyamakate bus disaster in Hurungwe when a speeding Zambia-bound King Lion bus they were travelling in veered off the road and crashed on a huge tree before bursting into flames at the 257km peg along the Harare-Chirundu highway.
On the fateful day in June 2017, the youthful couple had spent their day at home in Tynwald, Harare, as Nobert needed to rest before embarking on the overnight road trip to Lusaka.
He frequented the Zambian capital to purchase smartphones for resale back home.
Toreva is still to fathom the fact that her partner is no more.
“At around 4pm, I accompanied him to the city centre but couldn’t take him up to the Road Port bus terminus. We hugged at Copacabana and parted ways. Little did I know that was to be the last time I saw my husband,” she said.
Toreva said Norbert then called her at around 7pm informing her that they had just left and he pleaded “rather strangely” for her to pray hard for him as he said was not feeling very comfortable.
“After praying for him as he had requested I retired to bed expecting his usual mid-night call. This was our routine for years but on this day nothing came,” said Toreva.
There was an ominous silence from her usually communicative partner.
“I just thought maybe it was to do with network issues or he had not recharged his phone. But, in the following morning my mind kept telling me that Norbert was supposed to have called. I then tried his phone several times but I could not get hold of him and at this juncture I began to think that he had already crossed the border,” she said.
In the most unceremonious ways to be hinted, Toreva saw images on social media which turned her heart upside down.
“I saw images on social media of a Lion King bus that had been involved in an accident. I asked my husband’s friends if they knew which bus he had boarded and they weren’t sure.”
Toreva added; “I then called his brother who went to Chinhoyi Hospital mortuary where people with missing relatives had been invited to come through to help identify the bodies. That is how we got to know that he had perished. It was too much for me, I don’t even know who was at the funeral. Actually I am still trying to accept all this happened to me.”
The tragedy brought her a new set of struggles.
“Nobert left me with a three-year-old son and a two-month-old baby whom I am nursing. What pains me most is that this baby whom I am holding was still in my womb when my husband died in that (Nyamakate) bus accident.
“Life has never been the same. I am not employed and I am struggling to make ends meet. I have these kids who should be looked after. They will have to go to school amongst other things. When my husband was alive we led a decent life but I don’t know why I am the unlucky one,” she narrated.
Mrs Grace Makanjera, who was among the first people to arrive at the scene, claimed that she saw several villagers and motorists who had stopped to help the victims looting mainly cash and cell phones.
“I had never seen an accident of that magnitude even in a movie. I am naturally not very courageous but on that night, I just developed the guts and helped survivors from the wreckage. I also carried a lot of bodies. I am still haunted by that experience,” Mrs Makanjera said.
As with any other accident there are others who seek to capitalise.
“But, let me highlight that I witnessed a lot of looting. Although I was not able to positively identify the culprits, I indeed saw them in the act as they pretended to help.
“It is very disheartening because just imagine some reports which later came through that some women in Harare had complained about their husbands’ missing cash,” she said.
Some unconfirmed reports also say ghosts are seen at the scene, a claim which prompted the elders to traditionally cleanse the place before the remembrance proceedings commenced.
These narrations were heard at the World Day of Remembrance for Accident Victims held by the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe at Nyamakate Secondary School recently.
Road traffic accidents continue to shoot-up in an alarming rate and worryingly it is the economically productive age group who are mostly losing their lives in the carnage.
Former Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development Engineer Michael Madanha said road safety should be a collective responsibility.
“Research shows that the age band most at risk of road traffic crashes is the 26-45 year group. No nation however well-endowed with natural resources, can long endure the loss of its most productive age group. We need everyone’s support in taming the traffic jungle on our roads,” he said.
According to the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ), on average five people are killed while 38 others are injured in road accidents daily.
TSCZ managing director Mr Obio Chinyere believes if everyone becomes responsible accident reduction is possible. They have since rolled out a programme which will see perimeter fences being erect along highways to deter stray animals.
“As the TSCZ, we are working tirelessly to see to it that traffic accidents are reduced. We have since initiated the fencing of the Gweru to Plumtree highway and we intend to take that initiative to other roads where cases of stray animals being involved in accidents are prevalent,” he said.
Chinyere said; “We also carry out awareness campaigns throughout the country to conscietise road users, both motorists and pedestrians as well as cyclists. This is so because most accidents are caused by human error.”
Sometimes the biggest challenge is posed by the absence of emergency services.
“We are also working at providing ambulances to communities along highways to facilitate speedy evacuation of victims within the first hour of the accident, which is the golden hour. If accident victims find help within the first hour of the crash, they stand a better chance of surviving so we are also looking into those aspects as speedy evacuation of the injured to hospitals,” he said.
With the festive season approaching, there is hope that for the first time in history people will wake up to less gruesome headlines as a result of improved traffic safety measures.