FIVE people died on the spot and 42 others were injured when a bus belonging to Maphangisa Bus Services hit four pillars at the Tshangane river bridge along the Nkayi-Gokwe road before plunging into the riverbed, police in Matabeleland North have confirmed.
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Matabeleland North police spokesperson Inspector Billy Dube told NewsDay yesterday afternoon that the accident happened at around 8pm on Thursday.
“The bus was travelling along Nkayi-Gokwe road carrying 54 passengers,” he said. “On reaching the bridge, the driver failed to control the bus and it hit four pillars before falling into the riverbed. The driver and four passengers died on the spot.”
Dube said of the 46 injured, 19 were treated and discharged and the rest were still admitted at Nkayi Hospital.
“According to the information I have here, their conditions are a mixture of stable, serious and critical,” he said.
Dube said the driver’s name was Mbuso Nkomo, whose age was not given. Nkayi Rural District Council chairperson Kufakwezwe Ncube said after the accident, he and other villagers in the area went to the scene and on arrival “we discovered that the driver and three other women were trapped in the bus wreckage”.
“We spent a lot of time retrieving them from the wreckage, but they had already died,” said Ncube.
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One of the accident victims, Getrude Ncube (53), admitted at Nkayi Hospital, told NewsDay that the bus was speeding.
“The driver was speeding,” she said. “I was sleeping when a loud noise awakaned me and I just blacked out. When I recovered I was under the seat of the bus and was pulled out by someone I don’t even remember. I dislocated my shoulder and am feeling chest pains.”
