Source : Perth Now news
At least nine people are dead, including two children, and 25 others are hurt after a freight train struck a bus at a level crossing in Zimbabwe.
The crash occurred at a railway crossing in Triangle, a sugar-producing town in the country’s south, according to police.
National Railways of Zimbabwe spokesperson Andrew Kanambura said the bus driver failed to stop and check for oncoming trains before crossing the tracks, violating railway safety regulations.
Photos posted by local media showed the bus crumpled beside the railway tracks with part of its side sheered off. Twisted fragments of metal and shattered debris were strewn on the ground.
The crash happened less than a week after a minibus carrying schoolchildren caught fire in central Zimbabwe, killing seven. Last month, 10 people were killed in a collision between a bus and a haulage truck.
Road crashes are common in Zimbabwe, where a traffic accident occurs every 15 minutes and an average of five people are killed each day, according to the country’s road safety agency.
Africa has the world’s highest road traffic fatality rate despite accounting for only about three per cent of the global vehicle population, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
