Eighteen people, most of them Zimbabweans, were injured in a three-car pileup on Friday morning between Musina town and Beitbridge Border Post. Musina police spokesperson Constable Dakalo Ramagweda said the incident occurred at around 6am along the N1 Highway. She said intensive investigations were still in progress though initial indications were a result of an overtaking error.
“A Toyota Quantum travelling from the border post towards Musina was involved in a head on collision with another commuter omnibus which was travelling from Musina.
A few minutes later, another speeding Toyota-metered taxi, which was travelling from Musina rammed into the commuter omnibus. “A total of 18 people were injured as a result of the impact,” she said.
Const Ramagweda said emergency services and the police were alerted and they took the injured to Musina Government Hospital. She said most of the victims suffered multiple body injuries thought they were reported to be in stable condition.
She said the majority of the victims were Zimbabweans although nationalities for some were yet to be ascertained.
“As police, we continue to encourage drivers to always adhere to road traffic regulations and not to overtake when they cannot see clearly.
“We believe this accident was a result of human error which was avoidable,” said Cst Ramagweda.
Last year, seven people were killed near the same spot when a commuter omnibus they were travelling in collided with a haulage truck some two kilometres from Beitbridge Border Post along the N1 Highway.
The two vehicles collided near the weighbridge when the driver of the border post-bound haulage truck made a right turn in front of the speeding kombi, which was travelling towards Musina with 15 passengers resulting in a collision.
Seven people died instantly and nine others were seriously injured as a result of the collision.
A total of 38 Zimbabweans have died in road accidents in Limpopo Province in the last 12 months.-State Media