Source: The Herald – Breaking news.
Thupeyo Muleya
Beitbridge Bureau
ZIMBABWE’s embassy in South Africa has sent a team to Makhado Town in Limpopo Province where 10 Zimbabweans were killed and 35 others injured when a bus they were travelling in was involved in a road accident on Tuesday night.
The bus was travelling from Bulawayo to Gauteng Province, and among those who died, were five men and five women.
Consular services will be offered in collaboration with the South African government in ensuring the smooth repatriation of bodies of the accident victims for burial in the country .
The embassy team is being led by Zimbabwe’s Consul-General to Johannesburg, Mr Eria Phiri.
“We express our condolences to the families who lost their loved ones in this unfortunate road accident and wish a speedy recovery to the injured,” he said.
“We have just arrived on the ground to get more details around the accident and we will be able to ascertain what kind of help we may offer to our nationals working together with the host government. More information will be available at a later stage.”
In a statement, Limpopo’s Department of Transport and Community Safety said the bus was en route to Johannesburg from Zimbabwe when the accident happened just before midnight on Tuesday.
“According to reports the bus drove over a roundabout (last traffic circle from Makhado towards Polokwane) at high speed and overturned, killing and injuring its passengers in the process,” reads part of the statement.
The department said the accident scene had since been cleared and several injured passengers had been taken to different hospitals.
The Limpopo Provincial Member of the Executive Committee (MEC) responsible for transport and community, Ms Violet Mathye, visited the accident scene and those hospitalised.
She also sent her condolences to the bereaved families and wished those hospitalised a speedy recovery.
“Limpopo MEC for Transport and Community Safety, Ms Violet Mathye, visited the accident scene where 10 people perished, and paid a courtesy visit to the survivors in hospitals.
“The injured have been taken to the Louis Trichardt Memorial and Elim Hospitals, both in Makhado,” said Mr Phuti Lekganyane, the acting MEC spokesperson.
South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Transport, Mr Mkhuleko Hlengwa, is also expected to visit the accident scene this morning where he is expected to brief the media on the Transport Department’s intervention plan in response to the accident.
Senior officials from departments responsible for cross- border road transportation, road safety, as well as rehabilitation and compensation will join him.
The N1 highway has become a death trap for many road users in South Africa. It is a major commercial road that links the neighbouring country to the rest of Sadc region.
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