A DARK cloud fell over the police force after an officer attending to an accident scene was crushed to death by a haulage truck that rammed onto a stationary truck and police vehicle.
The horrific accident in which Constable Adam Mugwazo died, occurred on Tuesday in Cross Dete.
Cst Mugwazo who was once stationed in Victoria Falls before being transferred to Hwange, was recently moved to Dete Police Station in Hwange district and was stationed in the traffic department.
He and other policemen had gone to attend an accident scene involving a haulage truck in Cross Dete along the highway and while at the scene, he met his untimely death.
National police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the accident.
“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.
Cst Mugwazo was recording a statement while sitting in the police vehicle, a Mahindra truck, as it was raining as he and others attended to the accident.
A speeding haulage truck reportedly approached and rammed onto the trailer of the truck that had been involved in the accident and in the process hit the police vehicle which got trapped between the two trucks killing Cst Mugwazo on the spot.
Efforts to pull his body out were reportedly fruitless and cutting torches were used to gain access to him, witnesses said.
The sharp curves around Dete stretching from Cross Mabale to Dinde near the Hwange toll gate are a death trap as numerous accidents have occurred before.
Besides the sharp curves, the road is very narrow making driving a nightmare.
At Cross Dete, a number of people have been killed including pedestrians and hawkers after being hit by speeding vehicles.
A woman was fatally hit by a speeding vehicle late last year while selling wares to passengers in a bus that had stopped at the bus stop.
Haulage truck drivers that park their trucks on the sides of the road at Cross Dete where they have established an illegal truck stop have worsened the situation as they park on either side of the road leaving a narrow passage for other motorists.
The sides of the road at Cross Dete have also been damaged such that smaller vehicles struggle to pull off.
The community has suggested that some speed limit road signs and speed humps be erected while a mini terminus should be built for buses to completely pull off the road when picking and dropping passengers at Cross Dete to avoid accidents.
They have also appealed to authorities to enforce road traffic rules especially on trucks which are blamed for distracting other road users.
Commissioner Nyathi urged motorists to exercise extreme caution when driving along the country’s roads.
