THE driver of a bus, which caused the pile up near Coke Corner along Seke Road in Harare yesterday said he deliberately hit a car to avoid a major disaster.
Matthew Maphosa, the driver of the bus that was involved in the accident, said he had no choice but to hit the car in front of him.
“When I applied brakes when approaching the traffic light, the brake pedal broke,” he said.
“I felt that the brake pedal was no longer working and saw that if I went the other way, I would kill people so I chose an option that would stop the bus.
“I decided to use the Honda Fit in front of me. I don’t know where the Isuzu came from, I just saw it on top of the Honda Fit.”
An Inter Africa bus collided with a haulage truck near the Munyati River yesterday
Maphosa said he hit the Honda Fit intentionally trying to protect the 66 people he had in the bus.
“Had I gone the other way, I was going to kill people so I was trying to avoid such a scenario and hit the Honda Fit so that the bus could stop since the brakes were no longer working,” he said.
Another witness said a bus lost brakes and when it was trying to avoid an oncoming truck it rammed into a white pick-up truck which landed on top of a Honda Fit, leading to a pile-up accident. The white Isuzu truck had only one occupant and the Honda Fit had three occupants who were pulled out of the car by onlookers.
Zimbabwe police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the accident saying investigations were underway.
He said:
I can confirm that there was a multiple car accident in the morning at Coca-Cola intersection, Seke Road in Harare. There were minor injuries and a detailed statement is to be released in due course. Police investigations are underway.
