17 killed in Malawi-bound bus crash

A Malawi-bound bus travelling from South Africa was involved in an accident in Zimbabwe on Tuesday, killing 17 people. Zimbabwean newspaperThe Heraldreported yesterday that the accident occurred along the Harare–Nyamapanda Road near Suswe. A statement signed by Zimbabwe Republic Police national spokesper son Commissioner Paul Nyathi issued last night confirmed that 17 people died in the accident and 45 were admitted to Kotwa and Mutoko district hospitals.

The police also said the bus was coming from Cape Town in South Africa with 63 people on board. InformationThe Nationgathered from DNC/DRD Coaches office at Wenela in Blantyre yesterday indicates that the bus left South Africa on Saturday and was scheduled to arrive in Malawi on Tuesday. In a telephone interview, DNC/DRD Coaches Wenela manager Richard Hassan confirmed the bus belongs to the company and was carrying passengers bound for Malawi with two Zimbabwean drivers on board.

“I can confirm that the driver who was on duty at the time is among those who have died, but I do not have full details on the number of fatalities,” he said. At the time of the interview, Hassan was in transit to Zimbabwe to follow up on the accident. Meanwhile, a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International last evening confirmed the death toll.

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Reads the statement in part: “Officials from the Malawi Embassy in Harare are on the ground collaborating with Zimbabwean authorities in attending to the injured citizens and securing the remains of the deceased. “ Yesterday,The Nationestablished that several people separately visited the DNC office at Wenela to get information about the crash. One of them, Victor Chilenje, said he belongs to a grouping of Malawians based in Knysna, South Africa and had received reports that a member and her child were feared to be among the victims.

The latest accident comes six months after another fatal crash involving a DNC Coaches bus. In October last year, eight Malawians died and 15 others sustained injuries in a road accident in Limpopo Province in South Africa en route to Zimbabwe.

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