At least 22 people were killed in a devastating road accident in Zimbabwe when a minibus taxi collided with a truck on Tuesday near the country’s second-largest city Bulawayo, located in the southwest.

According to police spokesperson Paul Nyathi, the accident occurred on a highway linking Bulawayo with Beitbridge, a town bordering neighboring South Africa. Two people were injured and taken to a hospital after the accident.

“The ZRP reports a fatal road traffic accident which occurred on 14/11/23 at around 2200 hours at the 27 kilometre peg along Bulawayo-Beitbridge Road near Thandweni  Store in which 22 people were killed whilst two others were injured when a Toyota Quantum vehicle with 21 passengers on board was involved in a head on collision with a DAF truck with one passenger on board. The injured victims are admitted at United Bulawayo Group of Hospitals. More details to be released in due course,” said the Zimbabwe police in a statement.

Further details are awaited on the incident. This comes a day after six people were killed when a vehicle was involved in a deadly collision with another truck along Masvingo-Beitbridge Road, as per Zimbabwean reports. Three people were injured in that accident.

Many people in Zimbabwe, a country of 15 million whose economy has been battered by a yearslong currency crisis and high inflation, frequently travel to South Africa to buy goods for resale or personal use. 

Road accidents are common in Zimbabwe, where some drivers overload their vehicles and exceed the speed limit. The poor condition of Zimbabwe’s roads has also been blamed for contributing to crashes, despite government efforts to pave some major highways in recent years.

(with inputs from AP)

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