Twelve people died and several others were injured when a Toyota Dyna truck they were travelling in collided head-on with a Nissan UD truck at the 72km peg along the Kwekwe–Gokwe Road on Wednesday night.
Police National Traffic spokesperson Inspector Tigere Chigome confirmed the accident which occurred around 1930 hours.
“There was a Toyota Dyna truck coming from Kwekwe to Gokwe with 21 occupants whilst the UD truck was coming from Gokwe to Kwekwe with two occupants and a load of maize,” said Chigome.
“The Toyota Dyna truck encroached onto the opposite lane resulting in a head-on collision with eight people dying on the spot. Four died on admission at hospital.”
The eight, who included Zimbabwe Independent sports reporter Kelvin Mapasure’s father, were travelling to Gokwe for a relative’s funeral.
Chigome urged motorists to be cautious on the roads especially when driving at night to avoid accidents. “Drivers should exercise caution at all times on the roads especially at night and should dip their lights so as not to cause confusion on the road.
“Drivers should also be cautious now that we are approaching the festive season which is also a rainy season when there will be more traffic on the highways, we plead for caution,” Chigome said.
Meanwhile, wreckages of the two trucks were towed to the Vehicle Inspection Depot in Kwekwe for further investigations into the cause of the accident.
