George Maponga in Masvingo
EIGHT people perished on the spot while 4 others were injured in a road crash after a Mutare-bound Dragon bus side-swiped a timber-laden lorry near Mutendi Complex along the Masvingo-Mutare highway Saturday early morning.
Among the deceased was the driver of the bus that was on its way from Beitbridge with 20 passengers.
The bus driver attempted to overtake a lorry carrying timber at the 246km peg and encroached into the lorry’s lane upon noticing there was an oncoming vehicle at around 2am on Saturday.
National police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi in a statement said this resulted in the timber that was in the lorry piercing the bus after the side-swipe.
The injured were taken to Masvingo General Hospital while the deceased were taken to a morgue at the same health facility. Commissioner Nyathi said investigations into the crash were ongoing.
He urged motorists to exercise extreme caution when overtaking.