Hwange officer in horrific accident.

In a spine chilling incident, a Hwange District based police officer on traffic duty was hit by an oncoming truck crushing him to death on the spot.

The deceased, Constable Mugwazo, was attending an accident scene involving a haulage truck along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Highway when he was hit by a trailer of another oncoming truck.

The accident has led to an outcry on social media with some members of the public blaming the bad state of the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway and others on the recklessness of haulage truck drivers.

The National Police Spokesperson, Paul Nyathi, confirmed the incident.

“The deceased was attending an accident scene that involved a truck on 15 January 2023, around 20:30 hrs. A colleague who was driving the Mahindra ZRP car parked the police vehicle off road beside the trailer of the truck that had earlier had an accident. The deceased then recorded statements from the parties that were involved in the first accident whilst seated on the passenger seat because it was raining.

After recording, the police officer remained seated in the car. Suddenly, another truck which was being driven by a 49-year-old man from Emganwini in Bulawayo approached from the other direction and veered off the road towards the position of the police vehicle whilst averting the truck that had been involved in an accident,” said Nyathi.

The deceased colleagues tried to rescue him but he was trapped and Mugwazo died on the spot.
Following the incident which touched the mining town, the Hwange community has called for police to take stern measures against haulage truck drives whom they accuse of speeding on the now dangerous Bulawayo –Victoria Falls Highway.

“These haulage trucks speed and are worse during the night and we know in most cases they would be rushing to the border posts exposing pedestrians and other motorists who use the Bulawayo –Victoria falls Highway to danger,” said one resident, David Shoko .

“We heard that in this particular accident, the truck driver was allegedly speeding. How can one speed on a pothole infested road? That is suicidal and inhuman,” he added.

There have been several accidents that have claimed lives along the Bulawayo –Victoria Falls Highway, and most of them have been linked to human error of truck drivers.