SIX people died and 10 others were injured in a road accident that occurred along the Harare-Bulawayo road near Warren Park suburb in Harare on Friday.
A Toyota Hiace kombi with 15 passengers on board collided head-on with a Nissan Caravan kombi carrying three passengers heading into the capital city.
“Subsequently, the Toyota Hiace kombi hit an AVM bus with three passengers on board, which was travelling towards Harare’s central business district,” police said in a statement released yesterday.
“The Toyota Hiace kombi encroached onto the oncoming vehicle's lane.
“The bodies were taken to the Sally Mugabe Hospital mortuary for post-mortem whilst the injured were admitted at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals.”
Another fatal accident occurred along the Harare- Masvingo road also on Friday. Two people died on the spot while 11 others were injured.
“A Toyota Hiace kombi with 12 passengers on board was involved in a head-on collision with a Toyota Probix vehicle with four passengers on board,” police said.
Police said the bodies of the deceased were taken to Masvingo Provincial Hospital.
On the same day, a hit and run accident was recorded along the Bulawayo-Nkayi road. The victim sustained a fractured leg and is admitted at Inyathi district hospital.
Last week, police, Vehicle Inspectorate Department and the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe launched a traffic blitz targeting major highways during the festive season.
Speaking at the festive season road safety awareness campaign launch in Harare, police spokesperson Paul Nyathi said the law enforcement agency wanted to minimise road accidents.
Nyathi said unregistered and unroadworthy vehicles would be impounded.
A 2021 study by the United Nations on road safety in Zimbabwe revealed that about 94% of all road traffic accidents in the country are attributable to human error.
The country often records a high number of accidents during holidays when a lot of people retreated to their rural homes or holiday resorts.