ANTI-RIOT police on Wednesday reportedly broke windows of a parked private minibus before throwing a teargas canister inside in an attempt to get the occupants out .
REPORT BY TAPIWA ZIVIRA
As details of the viral video of a black minibus captured rolling down Nelson Mandela Street filled with tear smoke emerge, a MProfita Mustafa Chikavhu wrote on Facebook that he was part of the six people in the minibus.
According to Chikavhu, the kombi was parked at the corner of Rezende and Nelson Mandela Streets when police started beating up people at the rank.
Writes Chikavhu, “(We) went to Rezende where my friend’s private kombi was parked…we stayed in the kombi for about three hours in fear…then came anti riot (police at) around 4 pm and started beating up innocent people who were waiting for kombis to Mt Pleasent…we were six in the kombi, and (we) decided to lock the doors but they (the police) would not have that…they broke the windows and before they could get in, we drove off…how my friend managed to manoeuvre his way out of Rezende Street blocked by the police lorry and banana trolleys….next thing I remember was “makandwa teargass” and the car turned white. The teargas was thrown right on my wife’s back.”
One of the pictures posted on Facebook show a charred part of the minibus seat where the canister reportedly landed.
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“We all could not breathe…I had no access to the windows as they did not break the ones I could use…luckily our wives had access at the back”
Chikavhu adds that he later jumped out of the window and sustained injuries.
“I broke my arm and damaged my mouth and teeth…as soon as I landed, I ran to a safe place and called my wife and thank God she was ok.”
Another reader, Kumbirai Chibaya-Tkcee Shonha, posted on the NewsDay Facebook page,“It was something else. The kombi was full of people ready to go. That (is) when the police threw teargas canisters inside the kombi. People cried, but the police celebrated. They just wanted to disperse the people by any means. Indeed they succeeded. Some jumped off the moving kombi.”
We will update you as more details emerge
