For a moment, Calisto Nyika thought he was dreaming as he stepped on dead bodies trying to navigate his way out of the wreckage of the King Lion bus in the dead of the night.
news in depth BY NUNURAI JENA/NHAU MANGIRAZI/Paidamoyo Muzulu
Nyika (26) from Harare was one of the lucky 33 that escaped with their lives when the driver of the Zambia-bound bus failed to negotiate a curve along the Harare-Chirundu highway before hitting a tree and killing 43 passengers on the spot last Wednesday.
“It was just before Nyamakate business centre at a sharp curve when we heard the deafening sound of a tyre burst. The driver then apparently failed to control the bus, resulting in it hitting a tree,” he recalled as he was being discharged from Karoi Hospital on Thursday.
“I stepped on lifeless bodies to get out. Dead bodies were scattered all over the place. I lost my shoes but I am relieved that I am alive.’’
Nyika suffered minor injuries on his right hand but images of dead fellow passengers will haunt him for a long time to come, he said.
He is a frequent traveller to Zambia and on Wednesday he was making his second trip to the neighbouring country inside a week.
However, as he reflected on the ill-fated journey, Nyika blamed himself for not taking heed of the warning signs.
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“When we left Harare, the bus was nearly full,” he said. “The driver was speeding. We picked up more passengers in Chinhoyi and some of them could not get seats.”
Another survivor, 33-year-old Tulani Matimura of Harare who suffered head injuries, blamed the driver for the accident, saying he was speeding. The driver was among those who died on the spot.
“I had a seat but the bus had standing passengers,” he said as he also left Karoi Hospital on Thursday.
“The bus was speeding and the driver lost control after the front tyre burst.
“The bus hit a tree and there was nothing the driver could do as it happened at a curve near Nyamakate business centre.
“I do not know how I got out of the wreckage because everyone was pushing to get out using the same door.”
Friday Matarandizvo (30) who suffered minor injuries, said he tried in vain, together with other passengers, to plead with the driver to reduce speed.
“I am one of the people who told the driver to reduce his speed but he did not listen,” he said. “Unfortunately, some of the passengers who tried to plead with the driver died in the accident.”
Their sentiments were echoed by Tapiwa Sande, a truck driver who was travelling on the bus to Chirundu to pick up a consignment.
“The driver was speeding all the way from Harare and we tried to caution him,” he said. “He never stopped to take a break on the way, save for the time he stopped to pick up a few passengers in Banket and Chinhoyi.”
Some villagers who helped in the rescue operation, said the accident scene had become a black spot for motorists using the Harare-Chirundu highway.
“We are used to these accidents and we have seen long distance trucks spending several days trapped on the deep end after failing to negotiate the sharp curve,” said Martin Chamunorwa.
“We are now part of rescue teams. We do this out of love, although some people are now taking advantage of the accidents to steal from victims.”
The accident exposed Mashonaland West Province’s poor disaster preparedness. There was a critical shortage of ambulances to ferry survivors to hospitals in Karoi and Chinhoyi.
Some of the victims had to be ferried using lorries and observers say lives could have been saved had ambulances been used in the rescue operations.
The nearest town, Karoi, had no ambulance. The Civil Protection Unit (CPU) had to rely on ambulances from Chinhoyi — about 90km from the accident scene — and from Kariba, which is 110km away, as well as those from the Magunje 2;3 Infantry Battalion.
Hurungwe district administrator Friend Ngirazi said they also resorted to asking for help from well-wishers as the CPU was overwhelmed.
“It is unfortunate that decentralisation is affecting Hurungwe CPU,” he said.
A government source who spoke on condition of anonymity said the local CPU had no vehicles, hence its poor response to the disaster.
“We were caught off-guard as we had no vehicles to assist us and had to wait for outsiders to come to our rescue,” he said.
“Although we were there at the scene of the accident within a few minutes, things could have been better if the local CPU had its own vehicles to manage such disasters.”
District medical officer, Annamore Mutisi said although Ngirazi alerted her about the accident soon after midnight, there was little they could do as the other two doctors were off sick.
“Our team reacted on time but generally, transport is a big challenge but we did our best,” she said.
“Furthermore, our X-ray is old while the digital one is yet to be installed.
“For such a national crisis, we are incapacitated due to limited resources. All things being equal, we hope to get more resident doctors.”
Karoi hospital had no functioning mortuary to accommodate the bodies and all the 43 deceased, were taken to Chinhoyi mortuary which has a carrying capacity of 24 bodies.”
Chinhoyi Hospital superintendent Collet Mawire, said his team handled the accident well, given that it was the biggest ever disaster to hit the area.
“This is our first time at the hospital to handle such an accident, but we managed to take control of the situation, save for a few serious cases that were referred to Harare,” he said.
Some survivors’ relatives were yesterday seen at the King Lion offices in Harare’s Emerald Hill seeking money for medical expenses.
Bile Jaidi of Harare’s Warren Park 1 said his relative Memory Machemedze needed blood transfusion urgently after suffering from serious internal bleeding.
“Memory is in need of an urgent surgical operation to save her life. Today [yesterday] she was transferred from Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital to Parirenyatwa where a scan was done on her and that cost us $300,” he said.
“The scan revealed she had internal bleeding and one of her lungs was perforated and she needs an urgent operation.
“The doctors at Parirenyatwa said they need blood which cost $780 and we only have $150 so I came here to seek assistance but there is no-one.”
Jaidi could not get help as the company’s offices were deserted.
The directors of the bus company, David and Christine Taranhike were not immediately reachable on their mobile phones.
A manager at the company only identified as Ruth switched off her phone as soon as our reporter identified himself.
Meanwhile, Tommy Sithole, a former editor of The Herald, lost three relatives in the accident. He urged the government to ban public transport operators from travelling at night to avoid similar accidents.
“Two of them are sisters,” Sithole said. “All three were married and lived in Chitungwiza.
“I have always thought buses should not be allowed to travel at night.
“In this particular case, it is the habit of operators to leave in the evening, not to beat the border closing time, but to be there, spend the night and be the first to be cleared in the morning, not to cross that same night.”
Hurungwe North MP, Reuben Marumahoko urged bus drivers to be cautious on the roads to save lives.
“Our roads are in bad shape and pot-holed,” he said.
“I am surprised these drivers normally drive at 150 kilometres per hour during the night when vision is limited naturally.
“I wonder why they switch on hunting lights. It is a cause for concern.”
The Zimbabwe Traffic Safety Council says 90% of road accidents are attributed to human error.
An estimated 1 700 people die on the country’s roads annually, while 30 000 are injured.
The road carnage has also been blamed on the country’s poorly maintained roads.
The busy Harare-Chirundu highway is narrow and has potholes in some areas.
Cash-strapped Zimbabwe needs billions of dollars to rehabilitate its road network that has deteriorated over the years due to neglect.
