NINE people perished and 18 others were hospitalised after a Gweru-bound ZUPCO bus rammed into a broken-down heavy goods truck in Kwekwe early on Wednesday, police confirmed.
The accident is the third serious road disaster in as many days after two other commuter bus crashes in Wedza and Mbembesi claimed a combined 19 lives.
Police Superintendent Andrew Phiri said initial accounts by survivors in the Kwekwe crash suggested there was fog, which may have prevented the bus driver from noticing the broken down truck.
“The ZUPCO bus crashed into the stationary lorry at around 6AM and overturned. Seven people died on the spot and two others died on their way to hospital,” he said by telephone from Harare.
The broken-down truck was carrying steel rods. Some of the survivors from the bus which had 27 passengers told how most of the dead were stabbed by the rods which ripped through the bus.
National traffic police deputy spokesperson Assistant Inspector Luckmore Chakanza said the injured were being treated at Gweru and Kwekwe General Hospitals.
The driver of the bus is among the injured, Chakanza said.
Chakanza said the bus driver told the police that he did not see the haulage truck registered to Wel Mining Transport in time because of poor visibility.
"The bus rammed into the rear right side of the haulage truck with the front left side. On impact, the steel rods stabbed some passengers and seven people died on the spot," Chakanza said.