In a rare turn of things, a police officer was crushed to death while recording a statement at the scene of an accident.
The fatal incident occurred on Tuesday in Cross Dete, when a haulage truck collided with a stationary truck and a police vehicle, resulting in the unfortunate death of Constable Mugwazo.
Constable Mugwazo, formerly stationed in Victoria Falls and later transferred to Hwange, had recently been posted to Dete Police Station in the Hwange district, where he served in the traffic department.
On that fateful day, Constable Mugwazo and his fellow officers had been dispatched to a scene involving a haulage truck in Cross Dete along the highway. While attending to the accident, tragedy struck, claiming his life.
National police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the accident and provided further details.
According to Commissioner Nyathi, Constable Mugwazo was in the police Mahindra truck, recording a statement as it was raining.
A speeding haulage truck approached and collided with the trailer of the truck which had been in the initial accident. This collision also impacted the police vehicle, trapping Mugwazo between the two trucks and causing his immediate d3ath.
Assistant Commissioner Nyathi stated that the police are currently conducting investigations into the incident.
“There was an accident involving a truck and police vehicle. A police officer was attending the accident scene when another truck came and hit the trailer and a police vehicle and a police officer who was taking a statement was trapped. It’s a sad happening and we are conducting investigations,” said Commissioner Nyathi.
Eyewitnesses, recounted the unsuccessful attempts to extricate Constable Mugwazo’s body from the vehicle. Ultimately, cutting torches were used to gain access to him.
Text/ image: iHarare
