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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau—

Thirteen Zimbabweans were injured, one of them seriously, when a South African Home Affairs Ministry truck they were travelling in during deportation overturned near Musina last Thursday afternoon.The incident occurred on the N1 highway between Musina and Makhado towns.

It is understood that the truck was travelling from Thohoyandou with 18 people on board who were being repatriated to Zimbabwe for violating South African immigration laws.

Sources at the Beitbridge Border Post said yesterday 12 victims who had minor injuries were treated and discharged at Musina Hospital on Friday.

One of the victims who sustained serious injuries is still admitted at the hospital.

Musina police spokesperson Constable Dakalo Ramagweda confirmed the incident yesterday saying the vehicle was carrying undocumented Zimbabwean immigrants.

“Several people were injured but I don’t have the actual figures at the moment. The victims were taken to Musina Hospital for treatment and we are yet to get more information on the incident,” she said.

Recently 18 people, most of them Zimbabweans, were seriously injured when three vehicles were involved in a pile-up between Beitbridge Border Post and Musina town in South Africa.

Last year seven people died near the same spot when a commuter omnibus they were travelling in collided with a haulage truck.

The N1 highway, which links South Africa and other countries north of the Limpopo River, has become notorious for accidents involving Zimbabweans.