Hit and run road accidents worry police

Harare (New Ziana) – Police have expressed concern at incidents of hit-and-run road traffic accidents involving pedestrians, with five fatalities reported over the past week.

In posts on the police X handle, they appealed for information on the whereabouts of the driver of a Honda Fit with the registration ADR 7124 who abandoned the vehicle and disappeared after hitting and instantly killing a cyclist along Nketa Drive on Monday.

In Esigodini on Tuesday, a pedestrian died in another hit-and-run accident that occurred around 4 am with the unknown motorist disappearing from the scene. Another man had been killed in similar fashion on the same day at the 57km along the Bulawayo-Beitbridge Road.

In Harare, police are investigating a fatal hit-and-run road traffic accident which occurred on Saturday, along Highglen Road near Meru Service Station. The accident occurred as the victims were walking on the edge of the road, and on Sunday, around 2am, another fatal road traffic accident involving a Honda Fit occurred along Masotsha Ndlovu Road near Valley Crest Academy, Waterfalls, Harare.

Also on Sunday, a 24-year-old man sustained multiple injuries all over the body after being hit by a Toyota Land Cruiser vehicle along E.D Mnangagwa road near Churchill Roundabout in Harare.

Meanwhile, arrests in the ongoing nationwide police blitz, “Tame the Traffic Jungle”, totaled 26 443 by Tuesday, of which 708 were for vehicles without route permits, while 10 204 were of illegal taxis (mushikashika) and 296 motorists were nabbed for reckless driving. A total of 1 761 people were arrested for touting while the number of vehicles impounded for moving on the country’s roads without registration plates had reached 695.

In a separate matter, police in Kadoma are on the hunt for Alfigio Zhou of Village 5 Musambanyama, Whozhele, Sanyati in connection with the murder of his estranged wife of Village 4 Chiridzangoma, Sanyati. Zhou is alleged to have bludgeoned the woman with an unknown object after visiting her at her parents’ homestead to try and reconcile with her.

In Chipinge, five people were arrested for poaching at Humani Ranch leading to the rescue of a live pangolin and recovery of 15kg of impala meat. The five were identified as Peter Tendi (38), Michael Bishou (31), Harunaishe Shuro (43) and Johnson Hlanganayi Sithole (61).

New Ziana