A collision between a minibus taxi carrying church members and a haulage truck killed 27 people Friday in Zimbabwe, a police spokesperson said, in the latest road disaster to hit the southern African country.
Paul Nyathi, the police spokesperson, said Saturday that members of a popular indigenous African Christian denomination were traveling for a conference when the minibus taxi collided head-on with the truck on a major highway near Chivhu town, about 82 miles south of the capital, Harare. The truck was attempting to overtake another vehicle when the crash occurred.
State-run broadcaster ZBC News reported that 23 people died at the scene, with others succumbing to their injuries after being admitted to a local hospital. Local media published pictures of the wreckage, showing the minibus taxi had burst into flames and was reduced to a shell.
Nyathi stated that both vehicles were carrying an "unspecified" number of passengers.
Road accidents involving crowded buses, minibus taxis, and unregulated sedan taxis are common in Zimbabwe and are often attributed to dangerous driving and poor road conditions. Authorities estimate that 94% of road accidents in the country are due to human error.
Road crashes kill approximately 300,000 people annually across Africa, accounting for about a quarter of the global toll, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. The commission notes that the continent, with a population of 1.5 billion people, has the world's highest road fatality rate despite accounting for only about 3% of the global vehicle fleet.