MASVINGO — Police have launched a search for the bodies of four people who drowned after a kombi and a tractor towing it were both washed away while crossing a flooded Runde River at Chilonga Bridge in Chiredzi on Sunday.
Report by Tatenda Chitagu
Masvingo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Peter Zhanero said the accident happened after the kombi driver, identified as Forward Mapengo, tried to force his way across the bridge while being towed by the tractor.
“The driver, who had four passengers on board, approached the flooded bridge and realised that it was impassable. He tried to cross by being towed by a tractor which was going in the same direction. However, while they were halfway through, both the tractor and the kombi were washed away,” Zhanero said.
He said three passengers in the kombi, including the driver, drowned while another one who was on the tractor suffered the same fate. “Three people who were in the kombi drowned while one managed to swim to safety. Of the four people who were travelling on the tractor, three managed to escape while one could not make it,” Zhanero said, adding the police sub-aqua unit was still searching for the missing bodies.
