A CLEARING agent at Forbes Border Post died in a road traffic accident yesterday, while six others were injured when they were run over by a speeding truck that had developed brake failure.
The unidentified truck driver is said to have escaped
unhurt and the police were looking for him.
When The Manica Post arrived at the border moments after
the accident which resulted in a pile up of six vehicles, traffic police were
still gathering facts.
The 30-tonne truck which was loaded with fine chrome and
destined for Beira in Mozambique belongs to N Nzindira Investments. It was
impounded by the police.
Preliminary investigations show that the truck developed
brake failure as it descended the Vumba Mountain Range towards the border and
rammed into six vehicles before it could stop.
The deceased, whose name could not be released as the next
of kin was yet to be notified, was allegedly walking to the customs office when
disaster struck.
Six other people who were seated in parked vehicles were
injured and rushed to Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital in Mutare.
Five vehicles were extensively damaged by the haulage
truck, while a J&J truck was slightly side-swiped.
The haulage truck first hit a Toyota Allion near Valley
Lodge and the driver managed to navigate the steep curves to the border for
about three kilometres before ploughing into four other vehicles from Doves
Funeral Services, Telone and Zimra, as well as a privately owned Toyota Vitz.
All the vehicles were parked on the opposite direction
facing Mutare. Witnesses said one person died on the spot after being run over
by the truck.
“The guy who was crushed to death was a clearing agent. He
was going to the customs office and was on the edge of the road when the truck
hit him. His body was flattened, with body parts strewn all over. It was a
sorry sight. The driver of the truck escaped unhurt,” said Mr Jefinas
Mazambani, a witness.
Mr Benjamin Marewa, a truck driver, blamed the accident on
inexperience and poor decision making.
Mr Marewa said the driver should have improvised means to
stop the truck along the way when he realised that it had lost its brakes.
“The moment he realised that the truck had developed break
failure, he should have at least looked for an object to hit and stopped the
truck. The break failure developed three kilometres away and he should have
quickly reacted instead of continuing towards the border where there is more
human and vehicle traffic. Since the truck had a heavy load, there was no way
it was going to stop on its own,” he said.
This is not the first time that a haulage truck has caused
the loss of life at Forbes Boarder Post after developing break failure.
In August last year, one person died, while another one was
seriously injured when a heavily loaded haulage truck developed a brake failure
on a relatively sloppy gradient while driving towards the border on the
Zimbabwean side. Manica Post
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