... then I heard a big banging sound!

“It was month-end as usual. The 17 of us boarded the truck, longing to see our families at home. I felt tired and decided to sleep on the sponge which was in the truck. Like a bolt of lightning, I heard a big banging sound! Within some seconds, there were bodies scattered all over the road. I could not remember what happened thereafter until I found myself in this hospital bed at Musina Hospital.”

This is the painful story of Matodzi Ndou (37) one of the six survivors of the horror accident that killed 11 people at Tshipise road, near Musina on Friday night. Her younger sister, Mafanedza Ndou (26), who was also lying in her bed at Musina Hospital, said: “I could not believe that I had survived such a horrible accident. I only send my gratitude to God for protecting me and my sister. I will miss all the nine people who died, because I knew them very well.”

The Ndou sisters, who were the only two remaining at the hospital after six were discharged earlier this week, are nursing fractured legs as well as spinal chord and neck injuries. The horror accident happened when two trucks belonging to the ZZ2 group collided shortly after 21:00. Nine farm workers, including the driver of one of the truck, died at the scene and two died at Musina Hospital. The deceased are villagers from Bale, Matshena, Tshiungani and Mapakoni in the Mutale Municipal area.

Capt Sydney Ringane of Musina SAPS said police were presently investigating eleven counts of culpable homicide. “A truck coming from the western direction was transporting seventeen farm workers to their homes in the villages around Mutale after they got paid for the month. Another truck with a trailer, transporting tomatoes, was travelling from the opposite side. The trailer came inexplicably unstuck and landed in the middle of the road. The truck that was carrying people then collided with both the other truck and the trailer on the road, resulting in the death of the 11 people on the spot.”

The acting mayor of Musina Municipality, Cllr Gabriel Ramushwana, and his delegation visited the injured survivors at Musina Hospital on Monday. He sent condolences the families of the deceased and wished those who are still in hospital a speedy recovery.

News - Date: 11 June 2010

Wilson Dzebu

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