Beitbridge death toll rises to 15 as stranded Zimbabweans face bleak Christmas

A total of 15 people including 4 truck drivers have reportedly died at Beitbridge border post where there is a 15-kilometer traffic congestion,  international news agencies quoting South African media sources report.

Traffic over Beitbridge between South Africa and Zimbabwe, at southern Africa’s busiest border crossing, has ground to a near standstill over the past five days, with authorities battling to process hundreds of thousands of people making their way home for Christmas.

Delays at the border have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, with many people failing to get the required testing to cross, and curfew restrictions resulting in early close of the posts, eNCA reported.

Fifteen people have died over the past week while waiting in scorching heat in lines that stretch for least 15km, it said.

SA was host to about 4.2-million migrants last year, UN data shows. Many return home for Christmas and new tear, with Zimbabwe one of the main destinations and transit routes.

Bloomberg