Miss Tourism Zimbabwe finalists in bus accident

Vumba(Pungwe News New Ziana)-The Miss Tourism Zimbabwe finals which were scheduled for Saturday in Nyanga have been shelved to a date yet to be announced after some of the contestants were injured in a bus accident on Wednesday.

The accident occurred around 7 PM at the 18 kilometre peg along the Vumba-Mutare road.

Provincial police spokesperson inspector Tavhiringwa Kakohwa said the hired Pswaraj bus belonging to Shelton Tours had 27 people on board, 10 of who were injured when the driver lost control after he failed to negotiate a curve.

“The driver of the bus, Innocent Pundo(40) lost control of the bus and it veered off the road and overturned once,” he said.

Insp Kakohwa said the injured were admitted at a local private hospital where they were reported to be in a stable condition.

The models, who were drawn from the country’s 10 provinces, trooped into Mutare last weekend for the finals.

They were scheduled to travel to Cyclone ravaged areas of Chimanimani.

In a statement, Miss Tourism Zimbabwe national licence holder Sarah Mpofu said the finalists were booked to spent the night in Vumba after they had aborted a trip to Chimanimani due to bad weather.

She said the bus developed a mechanical fault before it veered off the road and overturned.

The injured contestants were identified as Maria Makelve and Michelle Mupasi (Midlands), Rutendo Tilda Mafuratidze (Manicaland), Rutendo Amanda Taruvinga and Grace Karimupfumbi (Masvingo), Monalisa Ellen Tafirenyika (Matabeleland North), Maureen Gondwe and Wendy Maturi (Mashonaland Central) and Pauline Marere (Mashonaland West).

“The girls are naturally in shock, but stable and recovering. In light of the above, the finals which were set for this Saturday have been postponed to a later date,”said Mpofu.

Last year, the Miss Tourism Zimbabwe finals were held in Bulawayo and were won by lawyer Tafadzwa Jaricha who walked away with a brand new Mercedes Benz C class and cash.

New Ziana