Mutare: A test drive for a newly acquired lorry ended in tragedy last Friday after the vehicle crushed two minors to death in a nasty accident that terrified Zimta Park residents in Mutare.
When they met their fate, the deceased — Batsirayi (10) and Fadzai (2) Mudhafi – had gone to relieve themselves a few metres from a church service they were attending that was being held at an open space in the same suburb.
They were laid to rest at Dangamvura Cemetery on Sunday. The owner of the lorry, only identified as Mutambanashe or Chadebinga, stays a stone’s throw away from the siblings’ home.
Efforts to get a comment from him (Mutambanashe) were fruitless as he was said to have gone to the Vehicle Inspection Department offices over the accident.
When The Weekender approached him at the VID offices he chickened out, denying being the person in question and instantly drove off.
Family members of the deceased minors and neighbours were yet to come to terms with the horrible incident. The father of deceased siblings, Vimbai Mudhafi, laboured to narrate how the unfortunate accident occurred.
“I had gone with my family for a prayer session at our usual meeting place as a church on Friday evening. When we arrived at the place, I left them at church and went to a nearby house where I wanted to repair some electrical gadgets.
“On my way back I saw church officials speaking in hushed tones. It was clear to me that there was something that they did not want me to hear. I suddenly discovered that there had been an accident nearby and two children had been killed. I instantly asked whether they were my kids and the answer was in the affirmative. I was so devastated,” said a visibly distraught Mudhafi.
A senior member of the church, Evangelist Brian Sapoti, who was present when the incident happened, said they had to follow-up the lorry as the driver drove off without noticing what had happened. weekender
