The development follows reports that no one has come forth
claiming a missing relative, friend or workmate that could have been on board
the vehicle.
The vehicle was pulled out of the river leading to the
retrieval of two bodies, a driver and passenger who was seated at the back.
The Isuzu double cab was swept away by floods when the
driver attempted to cross a flooded Gweru River just after Ascot suburb in
Gweru on Sunday.
The driver was identified as Mr Tinashe Chiwawa, who was
employed by Gweru City Council in the engineering department.
Mr Chiwawa was buried yesterday in Gweru. The other
passenger is still to be identified. The vehicle was towing a mining compressor
when the incident occurred.
An eyewitness told police that the vehicle had four males
including the driver and two females on board.
The search teams from Sunday to Tuesday tried to look for
the other said four bodies but the search was all in vain.
At the same time, it has been learnt that there is no one
who has come to claim or report a missing person — a development that has led
to the abandonment of the search.
In an interview yesterday, Midlands provincial police
spokesperson Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko confirmed the development.
“We have called off rescue operations aimed at retrieving
the bodies of the said four passengers who were said to have been in the
vehicle. No one has come forward to report a missing person, friend or
relative,” he said.
Insp Mahoko said an eyewitness had told the police that he
saw six people including the driver in the vehicle.
“Our informant said he was driving from the Gweru
direction. On reaching the bridge he said he found the river flooded and
stopped realising it was not safe to cross,” he said.
Insp Mahoko said the informant said after 20 minutes he saw
the Isuzu double cab twin arriving and stopping before the bridge.
“He said the vehicle stopped and three male adults
disembarked to assess the situation leaving three others in the vehicle, that
is one male and two females,” he said.
Insp Goko said one of the passengers said it was safe as he
had crossed the river with the same water level the previous day. He said they
asked the driver of a vehicle that was in front to make way for them.
“They then drove to cross and the vehicle was swept away.
So that was the information we were working with and the fact that no one has
come forward to reports missing person, we have been forced to abandon the
search. We could be searching for non-existent bodies,” said Insp Mahoko.
In December last year, three people were killed when a
pirate taxi they were travelling in was swept away by a flooded river in
Zvishavane.
The pirate taxi, a Toyota Noah, had 10 people on board,
when the driver tried to cross Mutorahuku River near Kambasha Primary School.
Chronicle
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