At least 27 killed in Zimbabwe church bus crash

At least 27 people were killed when a minibus taxi carrying members of a Christian congregation crashed head-on into a haulage truck in Zimbabwe. Seven others were hurt.

Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesperson Paul Nyathi said in a statement that the truck was attempting to pass another vehicle when it struck the minibus taxi near Chivhu, roughly 87 miles south of the nation’s capital, Harare, on Friday, according to DW.

The crash occurred at about 8:30 p.m. local time near Honeyspruit Bridge in Chikomba District, Mashonaland East Province, along the Harare-Masvingo Highway, according to the Zimbabwe Situation.

The truck carried foreign registration plates, meaning it was not licensed inside Zimbabwe. It was reportedly carrying mining equipment from South Africa, destined for Goromonzi district. 

Nyathi said the passengers belonged to a well-known indigenous African Christian denomination whose members typically wear white robes, and that they were headed to a conference when the crash happened in the night. He said the number of passengers aboard each vehicle was “unspecified.”

The congregation was later identified as the African Apostolic Church, also known as the Mwazha church, whose members were traveling from Dema to Ndarikure in Mvuma for a religious conference, according to Arabian Post.

It has been reported that the minibus was overloaded, carrying as many as 34 passengers.

ZBC, the state broadcaster, shared video showing the minibus taxi as a burned-out wreck, and local media circulated photographs of the crash site, according to AL.com.

A provincial government minister put the death toll at 23 at the scene, with the rest of the victims dying later at a hospital, ABC News reported. However, updated figures from Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe put the toll at 24 dead at the scene, with three more dying later at Chivhu General Hospital, according to allAfrica.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared a State of Disaster in response to the crash, invoking Section 27(1) of Zimbabwe’s Civil Protection Act. The declaration allows the government to mobilize resources and coordinate assistance for survivors and bereaved families, including covering medical expenses and burial costs, according to Arabian Post.

Overcrowded buses and minibus taxis are frequently involved in road accidents in Zimbabwe, which authorities often link to reckless driving and poor road conditions. Human error is blamed for 94% of the country’s crashes, officials say.

Privately run minibus taxis, called kombis, are a primary means of daily transport for many Zimbabweans. Operators are frequently accused of packing in more riders than permitted, and years of underfunding and neglect have left many roads pocked with potholes.

A minibus fire on a southern Zimbabwe highway in April left at least 18 people dead. Days earlier, a woman and her five children died when a haulage truck collided with their vehicle on a road linking Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Zimbabwe’s government moved to curb such accidents in 2024, restricting kombis with 26 seats or fewer to routes within about 37 miles of their permit areas, down from about 75 miles, and requiring public vehicles to install speed monitoring devices, according to the country’s Transport and Infrastructural Development Ministry.

Officials said long-distance travelers should use buses instead, arguing that buses offer more legroom and baggage space than kombis.

The country’s national statistics agency has said Zimbabwe averages one road accident every quarter hour and at least five deaths a day, among the highest tolls on the continent.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa estimates that road crashes claim roughly 300,000 lives on the continent annually, about one-quarter of deaths from crashes worldwide. It says the continent’s fatality rate is the highest anywhere, even though Africa’s 1.5 billion residents own only about 3% of the planet’s registered vehicles.