Own Correspondent|At least one person is confirmed to have died after a Toyota Granvia carrying cross border traders from Messina in South Africa to Gwanda was involved in an accident with a South African bound minibus at Colleen Bawn mine just outside Gwanda town.
Witnesses at the scene of the accident which happened on Thursday evening told ZimEye.com that the driver of the Toyota Granvia encroached onto the lane of an on coming South African registered Toyota Quantum with a trailer who avoided a head on collision but could only leave the trailer to collide with the Toyota Granvia.
“The driver of the Gwanda town bound Toyota Granvia lost control of the vehicle after colliding with the trailer and plunged the vehicle into a stream off the road,” said a witness.
“He was very lucky not to have a head on collision with the Quantum which also had a number of people in it and the accident could have been worse, ” added the witness.
According to the witnesses, the driver of the Granvia was speeding in a very bad rainy weather which may have caused him to encroach into the oncoming Toyota Quantum at a sharp curve due to poor visibility.
Nine of the passengers from the vehicle are all admitted at Gwanda hospital with some in a critical condition awaiting to be transferred to the United Bulawayo Hospital according to hospital authorities in Gwanda.
No-one from the South African bound vehicle was injured.
The accident comes on the heels of a similar accident that killed a dozen people in Gweru on Wednesday after a speeding kombi driver had a head-on collision with a bus.
Zimbabwe’s Easter Holidays are known for a high number of traffic accidents as people travel a lot during the period. Since Thursday the number of people travelling for the long weekend next week has started increasing after schools closed on Wednesday.
Police Spokesperson Paul Nyathi called on drivers to exercise extra caution on the roads as the holidays approach.