Bus crash kills at least 33 people in Zimbabwe
8/8/2006 17:40
At least 33 people died and several others were seriously injured
yesterday in west Zimbabwe when an overloaded motorway bus they were traveling
in plunged into a river along the road leading to Zambia.
The 33 died on the
spot after the bus veered off the road, careered off the bridge and landed on
the riverbed on its roof, the police said on Tuesday.
As a result of the
impact, both front tires of the bus caught fire resulting in bees nestled under
the bridge attacking the injured passengers, inflicting heavy injuries and
delaying rescue efforts by the police.
The 36-year-old bus driver Elvis
Chitoro was on Monday night reportedly in a stable condition although another
crew member died on the spot.
Of the 33, 18 were women, nine men and six
children and their bodies were taken to Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital mortuary
for postmortem.
The injured were rushed to Chinhoyi Provincial and Karoi
District hospitals.
The accident occurred at the 161-km peg on the road in
Mashonaland West Province, just six km away from where 18 mourners were killed
instantly and 42 others injured when a police lorry that was transporting them
to a funeral veered off the road and hit a tree in June.
Police spokesperson
Inspector Andrew Phiri said the accident occurred around 10:30 am on
Monday.
"At least 33 people were confirmed dead and the number may rise as
several passengers were seriously injured and rushed to Chinhoyi Provincial and
Karoi District hospitals," Phiri said.
He also said the cause of the accident
was not yet clear but preliminary investigations were pointing to a burst front
tire.
"While preliminary investigations suggested that the burst tier might
be the cause of the accident, the actual cause of the crash is yet to be
established. We are still investigating the cause of this accident," he
added.
Phiri said they also suspected that the bus was speeding. He said it
took rescuers over two hours to assist the injured.
"The fire brigade and the
police failed to do anything as the bees foiled their rescue attempts," he
said.
Police and the fire brigade had to call the Department of Agricultural
Research and Extension Services and Parks and Wildlife Management Authority to
spray the bees.
Xinhua
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