The Sunday News
Munyaradzi Musiiwa, Midlands Correspondent
FOUR people died on the spot while the driver of a Honda Fit, they were travelling in was seriously injured when his car collided head-on with a haulage truck as he tried to overtake at a bend just after Gweru on their way to Kwekwe on Friday evening.
When a Sunday News crew arrived at the scene around 6pm, Gweru city firefighters and military police were cutting the Honda Fit shell to retrieve the bodies which were still trapped under the haulage truck. The driver was still screaming for help but by the time he was finally retrieved, he had lost conscious with serious visible injuries.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi yesterday confirmed the accident. He said the bodies of the four were taken to Gweru Provincial Hospital while the Honda Fit driver was in critical condition.
“I confirm the accident which occurred just outside Gweru, killing four on the spot this (Friday) evening, the details are still sketchy at the moment but the driver of the Honda Fit car is said to be in a critical condition,” he said.
The driver of the haulage truck who was unscathed said he saw the Honda Fit over-taking and he tried to move further left to give the driver room.
“It happened within a twinkle of an eye, it’s a sharp bent so I saw the car when it was about 50m away. He had already passed one vehicle and was trying to overtake yet another one. There was not enough space to manoeuvre so as I tried to push a little bit far left, and as fate would have it, he decided to also go further right resulting in the head on collision,” he said.
The driver said he quickly got out of his truck to see the impact when he discovered that the Honda Fit had been reduced to a shell while trapped under the haulage truck engine.
“The car was speeding, you know the overtaking speed so the impact was just heavy, the occupants died instantly, we did not even hear any screams, only the driver was screaming but we could do nothing to save him until firefighters came with bolt cutters,” he said.
