FOUR people, including two girls both aged 13, died on the spot yesterday while several others were seriously injured when the minibus they were travelling in veered off the road and hit a tree near Lion and Elephant Motel in Mwenezi along the Beitbridge-Masvingo Highway.
The deceased and the survivors were related. They were reportedly on their way to South Africa for the holidays.
Some of the survivors have been admitted to the Beitbridge District Hospital, while others were treated and discharged.
Remains of the deceased were reportedly still at the accident scene eight hours after the accident that occurred around 0500 hours yesterday.
Officer commanding Beitbridge Police District, Chief Superintendent Tichaona Nyongo said although the accident happened closer to Beitbridge it had occurred in another district.
"We do not have that report here. We refer you to Mwenezi," Nyongo said.
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Mwenezi traffic police were not forthcoming with details yesterday.
A survivor of the accident, Joyce Chayichayi (33) of Zaka, however, said four people including her 13-year-old daughter were confirmed dead on the scene.
"I had just finished pulling a blanket over them when I heard a loud bang and felt my head becoming wet. I then realised that we had been involved in a crash. My daughter who is 13 and her cousin were confirmed dead," she said while sobbing.
"I am not sure if the driver is alive, he was just sitting still on the steering. My other cousin, a young adult and another child died. I was injured on the head, back and my legs are painful," Chayichayi, who had come from SA to collect the children, said.
She said she suspected that the driver was tired after driving from Johannesburg on Monday.