Accident blamed on driver fatigue

◆ and Shamu, the speed was safe. I only heard a loud bang as the bus hit the tree by its right side. I was seated on the left side and was the third person to disembark. At first we thought no one was injured, and it was only when we looked at the wrecked right side of the bus that we noticed a human hand hanging in the wreckage.

“We got back into the bus and realised that some passengers had been trapped. There could be an element of fatigue, but the bus was not speeding. I am relieved to be alive because when we were still in Bulawayo, I had occupied a seat that someone had booked, and was told to look for an empty one. Unfortunately the guy who asked me to leave that seat was among those who died in the accident, and I wonder what my fate would have been if I had insisted on occupying that seat,” said Rodwell.

The response from police, the fire brigade and ambulance services was swift, leading to the expeditious retrieval of trapped bodies and ferrying injured victims to hospital. One of the late Lawson Hokonya’s sisters, who refused to be named, described Wednesday as a black day for their family.

“It is a tragedy. Lawson was coming to Mutare from Bulawayo. He is our brother and we lost him in this accident and it is unbelievable that what was meant to be a family reunion turned into a black day. We are shocked that things have turned this way. We do not know where from. It is painful,” she said, with tears of pain welling down her cheeks.