SIX KILLED AS KOMBI RAMS INTO TRUCK

SIX people died on the spot among them a two-year-old girl while eight others were injured when the driver of a Toyota Quantum vehicle they were travelling in allegedly rammed into a haulage truck after trying to overtake in the face of oncoming traffic.

The names of the deceased have been withheld because it could not be ascertained yesterday if their next of kin had been informed.  Witnesses said the quantum got trapped under the haulage truck which dragged it for about 100 metres before stopping.

The driver of the quantum, Mr Thembeni Mkhwananzi of New Magwegwe suburb was travelling from Bulawayo to South Africa with 14 passengers on board when the accident occurred last Thursday around 7PM at the 313 km peg along Bulawayo-Beitbridge Road.

A source close to the investigations, who preferred anonymity, said the injured passengers were admitted to Beitbridge District Hospital and bodies were taken to the same hospital’s mortuary.

“On Thursday around 7PM Mr Moses Limungu who is a Zambian, was driving a Zambian registered truck along Bulawayo- Beitbridge Road heading towards Beitbridge. Thembeni Mkhwananzi was driving a Toyota Quantum with 14 passengers heading in the same direction.

“Upon reaching the 313 km peg Mkhwananzi who was following behind tried to overtake the haulage truck and while in the process of overtaking, he saw an oncoming vehicle and decided to return to his lane,” said the source.

He said Mkhwananzi lost control of his vehicle and it rammed into the haulage truck. Chronicle