World News
Zimbabwe declares a state of disaster after a highway collision kills 27
By Staff Writer | 1 September 2026
A haulage truck carrying mining equipment and a minibus collided head-on near Honeyspruit Bridge, and the fire that followed trapped passengers inside. The declaration was made under section 27(1) of the Civil Protection Act.
Zimbabwe's government has declared a state of disaster following a collision on the Harare to Masvingo highway near Honeyspruit Bridge, in Chikomba District, Mashonaland East, in which 27 people died. The declaration was made under section 27(1) of the Civil Protection Act [Chapter 10:06], the effect of which is to open the way to mobilising resources and co-ordinating assistance for survivors and for the families of those killed.
A haulage truck carrying mining equipment from South Africa to Goromonzi and a commuter minibus travelling from Dema to Ndarikure in Mvuma met head-on. The passengers were members of a church group.
The two vehicles were involved in a head-on collision, resulting in an immediate fire. Several occupants of the kombi were trapped inside the vehicle, with some sustaining fatal burns
Daniel Garwe, Zimbabwe's Minister of Local Government and Public Works
Twenty-four people died at the scene and three more later died of their injuries after being taken to Chivhu General Hospital, bringing the confirmed toll to 27 as at 29 August. Seven others were critically injured and admitted there, and some have since been moved to Harare. The minibus driver was among those killed. The truck driver survived and was taken to Harare by ambulance.
What the recovery took
Emergency teams from the civil protection structures, helped by members of the public from Chivhu, worked the scene. Small cranes were used to recover victims and a fire tender was brought in to put the flames out. The truck and its load were left strewn across the carriageway and traffic was disrupted until the wreckage was cleared with a heavy-duty crane. The bodies were taken to the mortuary at Chivhu General Hospital, where identification and post-mortem work is under way.
Government is working closely with the relevant authorities and other stakeholders to consolidate information and establish the identities of the deceased. The names of the victims will be released once the identification process has been completed and the information duly verified
Daniel Garwe, Zimbabwe's Minister of Local Government and Public Works
The part that has not been established
No cause has been reported by anybody quoted. The sequence the minister describes is what happened, not why, and the questions that follow a collision of this kind are not answered anywhere on the record: the weight and dimensions of the plant being carried, whether the movement was running under an abnormal load permit and on what route, the condition of the carriageway at that point, and which vehicle crossed the centre line. None of that has been published.
For anyone who moves plant by road, the detail worth holding on to is the ordinariness of the combination. A truck carrying mining equipment on a long cross-border run met a full minibus on a single carriageway, and the fire did the rest. Recovery needed cranes, which is a fair indication of the mass involved. Whether any of that bore on the outcome is exactly what an investigation is for, and none has reported.