Dozens of people were killed when a minibus carrying churchgoers collided head-on with a truck in central Zimbabwe. The crash near the town of Chivhu is the latest deadly road accident in the African country.
Police spokesperson Paul Nyathi said members of a popular Indigenous African Christian denomination, known for wearing white robes, were traveling to a conference on Friday when their minibus collided with a truck on a major highway near the town of Chivhu, about 140 kilometers (87 miles) south of the capital, Harare.
The foreign-registered haulage truck was overtaking another vehicle when it collided with the minibus. Both vehicles were carrying an “unspecified” number of passengers, Nyathi said in a statement.
Footage shared on social media by public broadcaster ZBC showed the mangled minibus charred to a shell.
Zimbabwe faces road safety crisis
Authorities say 94% of road accidents occur due to human error. Many Zimbabweans rely on privately operated minibus taxis, known locally as kombis, for everyday transportation. The vehicles are often criticized for carrying more passengers than allowed.
Zimbabwe’s roads are also riddled with potholes after years of underfunding and neglect, while driving standards can be poor.
In April, at least 18 people were killed when a minibus burst into flames on a highway in southern Zimbabwe. Earlier that month, a woman and her five children were killed when their vehicle collided with a haulage truck on another highway linking Zimbabwe and South Africa.
This is despite Africa’s 1.5 billion people accounting for only about 3% of the world’s vehicle fleet.
Edited by: Wesley Dockery
DW News
