The ManicaPost
Blessing Rwizi Post Correspondent
A SOUTH African haulage truck driver and his companion were lucky to escape with no injuries on Tuesday night after the truck they were travelling in overturned in Nyanyadzi.
The accident, which happened near Nyanyadzi Hospital around 8pm caused congestion along Mutare-Birchenough Highway as motorists could not pass since the truck blocked the road.
Motorists resorted to use Mr Robson Mutambara’s yard as a temporary road, but it was at their own peril as another Mitsubishi Canter vehicle bumped into his precast wall after a brake failure.
South Africa’s NASH Freight company truck which was being driven by a Zambian driver, Buadi Chiokwe was transporting an estimated 30 tonnes of sorghum to World Vision’s Mutare warehouse from Durban.
The sorghum was part of the 4 210 tonnes that World Vision is stocking for its ongoing drought relief programme.
Chiokwe blamed one cross-border bus driver for flashing lights on him, resulting in him failing to control the loaded vehicle.
“The bus flashed lights into my eyes and I could not see my way. The truck veered off the road and efforts to control it back onto the road were fruitless as the load moved to one side,” said Chiokwe.
By the time the police arrived at the scene, a few bags were believed to have been stashed in a nearby graveyard by villagers who arrived at the scene first. Some even went away with buckets of diesel.
One driver, Hardtime Maphosa said something should be done at the portion of the road between Rufaro Business Centre and Nyanyadzi Police Station which is now in a sorry state.
“We have experienced a number of accidents between Rufaro and Nyanyadzi Police Station because of the poor state of the road.
If a vehicle veers off the road, it will be difficult to control it because of the sharp edges.
We are appealing to the relevant authorities to do something with the Mutare-Birchenough Highway because innocent lives are being lost as a result of the poor state of the road,” said Maphosa.
