By Own Correspondent| A pupil at Farai Primary School in Chitungwiza was crushed to death while on her way to school after a Seddon Atkinson 10-tonne truck believed to be owned by an illegal sand dealer failed to negotiate a turn.

The accident, happened around 7am at a T-junction in Unit N when Delma Marunza (8) was on her way to school.

Witnesses who saw the incident said the girl tried to escape from the vehicle but fell before she was run over.

Said one witness identified as Memory Tapera:

“I was fetching water from a well when I saw this truck trying to turn in my direction. I stopped to see how the driver would turn since there a child by the curve.

“He proceeded to turn and the girl tried to jump into a water drain by the curve but she fell down and her head got crushed under the back wheels of the vehicle.”

Tapera said she screamed to get the attention of the driver who seemed unaware that he had killed a child.

“The driver did not notice anything and I had to scream for him to stop his vehicle. That is when neighbours also came out to witness the incident. Someone used a brick to stop the vehicle because it had no brakes.”

Residents at the scene alleged the driver was once involved in another accident that claimed three lives.