The Sunday News
Sunday News Reporters
A woman believed to be in her early 20s was burnt beyond recognition when a car she was travelling in caught fire after a head on collision close to Mzilikazi Barracks along the Bulawayo-Harare highway on Friday night.
The woman is believed to have been a resident of Elangeni Institute of Training and Development Centre in Bulawayo.
Although police could not confirm the accident, Sunday News gathered that the woman was burnt after the Honda Fit she was travelling in was involved in a head on collision with a mini-bus at about 11pm on Friday night along the Bulawayo-Harare highway, a few metres from Mzilikazi Barracks (formerly Brady Barracks). Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Precious Simango said she was yet to receive the report.
“Unfortunately I have left the office but I had not received the report when I left,” she said.
When Sunday News arrived at the scene yesterday, motorists could be seen peeping through the windows while some were parked assessing the damage.
The car was being driven by Mr Enock Matete who sustained minor injuries as a result of the collision and was treated and discharged at United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH). Mr Matete said he wanted to take a right turn heading to his house when the accident occurred. The driver of the mini-bus is said to have encroached onto the oncoming lane to make way for a Mercedes Benz resulting in the head-on collision with the Honda Fit.
“I was coming from town and the road is a four-way lane and I was in the second lane when a Mercedes Benz overtook me. I swerved to the other side of the road and in a split of a second I had collided with a mini-bus — a coaster that had encroached onto my lane to avoid the Benz. I only heard a bang and after that I became unconscious.
“I later woke up at UBH where I was discharged just a few hours back and the situation is actually traumatising. I had given the woman, who I only know as Pecullia and resides at the campus, a lift from town and we were heading home,” he said. The driver sustained burn injuries on the face and his walk was evidence that the impact of the accident had taken its toll on him.
