By A Correspondent- At least 45 passengers aboard a Smart Express bus on Saturday escaped death by a whisker after the bus overturned while negotiating the steep Vumba curves at the 15km peg from Mutare at Lower Vumba Gardens.

Some of the passengers who spoke to a local publication alleged that the driver was drunk after gulping beer in Mutare, a charge which the driver rejected.

The unnamed driver had this to say:

When I was negotiating a curve, I heard something breaking under the bus and I knew it was the U-bolt. I lost control of the vehicle but I managed to avoid hitting trees, otherwise, people would have died.

20 passengers were injured in the accident and were rushed to hospital by guests who were attending a wedding at Vumba Gardens.

The accident follows another Smart Express bus which killed over 50 people along the Harare-Mutare Highway in November last year.

-Manicapost