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Walter Nyamukondiwa Chinhoyi Bureau
One person was killed, while two others were injured when a vehicle they were travelling in crashed into a stationary haulage truck in Banket yesterday. The accident occurred around 3am when a Nissan Vanette that had six passengers on board rammed into a broken down haulage truck at the 92-kilometre peg along the Harare-Chirundu Highway. In an interview, the driver of the Nissan Vanette, Mr Lawrence Histiri, said he noticed late that the truck was stationary.

“There was no triangle or anything to warn other motorists that there is a broken down vehicle. I tried to avoid it by swerving to the right, but there was an oncoming vehicle, so I returned to my lane where I crashed into the trailer,” he said.

Observers said Mr Histiri could have been speeding on the 60km zone, as he would have easily stopped if he was within the speed limit. In a bid to warn other motorists, the driver of the broken down truck had put some leaves. The deceased passenger, who cannot be named as his next of kin had not been informed yesterday, died while waiting to be transferred to Harare for further care.

Those injured are admitted at Banket District Hospital. The two were trapped in front and were only retrieved nearly two hours later by personnel from the fire brigade. There have been complaints over the number of fatal accidents occurring on the nearly three kilometre stretch as one enters Banket town. Motorists tend to disobey speed restriction signs, as they pass through the growing town, which translates to a high volume of traffic.