Wednesday witnessed a narrow escape for twenty passengers aboard a Timboon Coaches bus after it developed a suspected electrical fault and burst into flames along the Harare-Chirundu Highway. The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) confirmed the incident, which took place at the 180-kilometer peg on the route to Magunje.
According to the ZRP, the bus driver noticed smoke billowing from the engine compartment through the gear lever moments before the vehicle was engulfed in flames. Remarkably, all passengers and crew managed to evacuate the bus safely, avoiding what could have been a catastrophic event.
The incident was highlighted in a ZRP post on X (Twitter), reassuring the public of the passengers’ safety. “The ZRP confirms a fire incident in which a Timboon bus was burnt to a shell… The passengers escaped from the bus and no one was injured,” the statement read.
This latest incident comes in the wake of a tragic accident in April 2023 involving another bus from Timboon Coaches. That accident resulted in the deaths of twelve individuals, including the driver, after the vehicle crashed on the Murammbinda-Chivhu Road. Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi had reported that the bus, carrying 40 passengers to Harare, lost control before veering off the road.
Additionally, Assistant Commissioner Nyathi recently released road traffic accident statistics for the 2024 Easter Holiday. The data revealed a slight decrease in road traffic accidents, with 286 incidents recorded this year, down from 288 in 2023. Fatalities during the holiday period also saw a minor reduction, with 27 lives lost compared to 29 in the previous year.
