HARARE – In a tragic incident on Saturday, a vehicle that was being driven by a member of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) veered off the road along the Harare-Mukumbura highway and ploughed into a group of six teenage girls who were walking on the roadside, killing five in the process.
In a memo directed to the Officer Commanding Bindura Police District, Bindura traffic police confirmed Sunday that the sixth pedestrian suffered injuries as a result of the mishap together with a passenger who was in the vehicle. Both were taken to hospital for treatment.
The driver was named as 51-year-old Washington Timburwa from the ZNA’s Two Brigade, Cranborne, Harare.
According to the memo, Timburwa had been driving a private Nissan Primeira with a single passenger on board.
“Upon approaching 90km peg on the said road, he failed to keep a proper control of the vehicle and veered off to the left side of the road and swerved to the right side where he went on to hit 6 pedestrians who were walking along the said road due south,” police said.
“The motor vehicle overturned several times and landed on its roof approximately 5 metres from the road.
“Three pedestrians died on the spot, two died upon admission at Bindura Hospital.
“One pedestrian is in critical condition and is admitted at Bindura Hospital.
“One passenger from the first party’s vehicle sustained a cut on the head and her condition is stable. The first party (Timburwa) did not sustain any visible injuries.”
Victims of the accident were named as Nokutenda Mabheka, aged 14, Rachel Sinodia and Chipo Chikanda, both aged 13, who all died on the spot.
The other victims are Misiyose Benjamin, 14, and Makanaka, whose full details were not given, who both died upon admission at Bindura Hospital.
All the dead juveniles sustained serious head injuries as a result of the tragedy.
The other minor, identified as Manhenga, reportedly sustained a fractured right leg and serious head injuries and is admitted at Bindura Hospital while the passenger was named as Nyasha Ngwerume, a 22-year-old woman of Shirikadzi Village, Chief Masembura, Bindura.
The incident, according to police, occurred on Saturday just after 4PM at the 90-kilometre peg along Harare-Mukumbura Road.
Police attributed the accident to speeding and have since charged Timburwa with culpable homicide.
The vehicle sustained extensive body damages and was towed to Bindura VID for inspection.
While Zimbabwe has a high road carnage – at five deaths per day according to authorities – road accidents involving vehicles that strike pedestrians walking on the side of the road are not very common.
