"We Ran After The Bus", Villager Says They Knew Tynwald High School Bus Crash Was Inevitable
One of the first people to arrive at the Tynwald High School Bus crash site said that they ran after the bus just before it was involved in an accident that killed six pupils and injured 34 other occupants in Juliusdale, Nyanga on Friday last week.
Shingirai Shingoriyo, better known as Madzibaba Shingoriyo, told The Manica Post that he was assembling a pile of firewood for sale by the roadside in the Pine Tree area of Nyanga when he heard the sound of a speeding vehicle passing by.
He said he summoned three youths who were with him to follow him as they ran after the bus. Said Shingoriyo:
I was here assembling a heap of firewood for sale. It was getting dark and I was facing the ground when I heard a sound of a vehicle passing by.
I instantly raised my head, but the vehicle was already more than 100 metres away when l looked up.
All I managed to see was its back as it disappeared into the curve on a steep slope. I knew it would not negotiate the curve while cruising at that speed.
The speed was just too much for this curve. I instantly called the three youths I was with to join me in running after the bus.
The next thing was a crashing sound. We knew it had been involved in an accident. We rushed to the scene and started helping those who were injured to get out of the bus.
We saw some learners who had been thrown out of the bus and were lying lifeless on the ground.
According to a leaked internal police memorandum, the driver of the bus, Chamunorwa Machimbidzofa (43), was speeding and failed to negotiate a sharp curve.
Six pupils, five female and one male, died from head injuries after the bus overturned and landed on its roof near Pine Tree Hotel at the 75km peg along the Rusape-Nyanga Road.
