CHITUNGWIZA, Zimbabwe (BN24) — At least 17 people were killed and several others injured Tuesday in a head-on collision between a minibus taxi and a haulage truck, police said. The fatal accident, which occurred near Chitungwiza—approximately 25 kilometers southeast of Harare—claimed the lives of 17 victims, including pedestrians, according to spokesperson Paul Nyathi.
Nyathi explained that the truck, after losing control, veered into the opposite lane and struck the minibus. Prior to colliding with the taxi, the truck hit two pedestrians walking on what police described as an “island of the road.” Fifteen of the minibus’s passengers died instantly at the scene, while the remaining victims were rushed to hospital.
State-run media reported that rescuers arrived at the accident site to find the minibus completely flattened, with only fragments of its chassis visible under the truck’s undercarriage. Twisted metal, shattered glass, and debris littered the roadway as emergency teams worked to extract survivors and recover bodies. Although the crash occurred in the morning, officials continued to retrieve victims’ remains at noon.
Chitungwiza Mayor Rosaria Mangoma described the incident as “one of the most disturbing and traumatic scenes” witnessed in the town and urged the government to declare a national disaster to address the widespread loss. She emphasized that deadly road accidents involving public transportation are common in Zimbabwe, where speeding and poorly maintained roads contribute to a high fatality rate—statistics show that the nation experiences a road accident every 15 minutes, killing at least five people daily.
This tragedy follows a similar fatal incident in February near Beitbridge, where a head-on collision between a bus and a truck claimed 24 lives along the South African border.
Authorities continue investigating the incident, while calls for improved road safety and stricter enforcement of traffic laws grow louder amid the persistent dangers on Zimbabwe’s roads.
