Twenty-seven people have died and seven others were injured after a commuter omnibus collided head-on with a haulage truck along the Harare-Masvingo highway near Chivhu on Friday night.
The collision happened at about 8.30pm on August 28, 2026, near Makumimavi Primary School, at the 132-kilometre peg along the Harare-Masvingo Road. The crash occurred roughly 15 kilometres from Chivhu Business Centre and left the Nissan Caravan NV350 kombi badly damaged before it caught fire and was reduced to a shell.
The victims were travelling to a church conference in Mvuma when tragedy struck. Police said the kombi was carrying congregants from the African Apostolic Church, popularly known as Mwazha, who had departed from Dema. The haulage truck was a Volvo and had a foreign registration, although the number of people it was carrying was not immediately known.
Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the deaths and said further information would be released as investigations continued.
“Yes, we confirm a fatal road traffic accident which occured at the 130-km peg along the Harare-Masvingo highway, near Makumimavi Primary School, yesterday. Twenty-seven people died. We will release more details about the accident later,” Comm Nyathi said.
In a statement, Commissioner Nyathi said the accident involved a Nissan Caravan NV350 kombi and a Volvo haulage truck. He said seven people were injured and that the names of the dead would only be made public after the victims had been identified by their next of kin.
“The Zimbabwe Republic Police confirms a fatal road traffic accident which occurred at the 132 kilometre peg along Harare-Masvingo Road, Chivhu near Makumimavi Primary School on 28th August 2026 at around 2030 hours where 27 people died while seven others were injured when a Nissan Caravan NV350 kombi carrying an unspecified number of passengers was involved in a head on collision with a Volvo Haulage Truck carrying unknown number of passengers.
“It is alleged that the foreign registered truck was trying to overtake another vehicle. The kombi was carrying church congregates from African Apostolic Church (Mwazha) who were proceeding to Mvuma from Dema for a church conference. The names of the victims will be released as soon as the bodies are identified by their next of kin. The Zimbabwe Republic Police expresses condolences to the bereaved families. More details will be released in due course.”
The impact caused the kombi to burst into flames, making the rescue operation especially difficult. The vehicle was reportedly destroyed by the fire, leaving rescuers and relatives facing the painful task of waiting for the bodies to be identified. The deceased were taken to Chivhu Hospital mortuary, while the injured were transported for medical attention.
Early information from the scene indicated that 21 people had died before the death toll rose to 25 and eventually 27. Two survivors, including the haulage-truck driver, who were reported to be in critical condition after the crash are said to have eventually succumbed to the injuries, a development that raised the death toll to 27. Authorities were expected to examine the circumstances surrounding the collision, including the condition of both vehicles, the number of passengers in the kombi and the events leading up to the alleged overtaking manoeuvre.
The deadly crash came at a time when Zimbabweans were still mourning the Lake Kariba ferry disaster, in which 97 people were reported to have died. That tragedy involved a ferry carrying passengers on the lake and became one of the country’s worst transport disasters. The two incidents have now been placed side by side by followers of Bulawayo preacher Pastor Ian Ndlovu, who has spoken repeatedly about fires, accidents and loss of life.
Pastor Ndlovu’s latest warning was released on August 27, 2026, a day before the Chivhu accident. In the message, he spoke about fires occurring in different parts of the country and warned that deadly accidents could also take place. At the time he delivered the warning, the Chivhu collision had not yet happened.
“So these fires that are taking place in different parts of the country… These fires are not disconnected from what happened in Kariba,” Pastor Ndlovu said.
He referred to a fire that gutted the Essex building near City Hall and next to the Selborne Hotel, as well as fires involving motor vehicles. He said the events formed part of the same wave that had already caused the disaster at Lake Kariba.
“It’s the same wave which caused that disaster in Kariba… It will be doing it to destroy livelihoods or to destroy human life,” he said.
The preacher also warned about what he described as freak accidents and the danger of hazardous goods being transported in public vehicles. He specifically mentioned explosives and dynamite, saying such materials could detonate while being carried in buses or commuter omnibuses.
“If certain dangerous goods are carried by buses and other forms of public transport… specific vehicles that will be carrying maybe explosives… sometimes they carry things like dynamites in kombis… And those things they can detonate at any time and then people will lose their lives,” Pastor Ndlovu said.
His comments have drawn renewed attention because the Chivhu crash involved a kombi that caught fire immediately after a violent collision. The police statement does not say that explosives or any other dangerous goods were being carried in the vehicle, and investigators had not announced such a finding. However, the timing of the warning has led many of the preacher’s followers to connect his remarks about fires, accidents and deaths with Friday night’s tragedy.
Pastor Ndlovu has also been credited by his followers with warning about the Lake Kariba ferry disaster almost 10 years before it happened. In footage from a Sunday service at Divine Kingdom Baptist Ministries on October 30, 2016, he spoke of a Southern African country, a large body of water and an overloaded vessel carrying many people.
“This pertains to one of the countries in Southern Africa and a large body of water. I saw trouble strike a vessel carrying people. And that vessel was overloaded. Is this a ferry or a ship? This is not an ocean or a sea. It is just a vast body of water like a lake or a dam… But I saw something like a ferry or a boat having a lot of people inside and it just capsized and people were drowning,” he said.
The prophecy resurfaced after the Lake Kariba ferry capsized in August 2026. The disaster left dozens of families searching for relatives and prompted a major recovery operation on the lake. Pastor Ndlovu later described the ferry disaster, the fires and the accidents as part of the same demonic wave, urging intercessors to pray and communities to remain alert.
He said electrical faults should be identified before they caused buildings to burn, while warning that transport operators and passengers should be careful about what was carried in public vehicles. His latest video has now been circulated widely as Zimbabweans wait for the identities of those who died at Makumimavi.
Police have extended their condolences to the bereaved families and said more details will be released in due course. Until then, relatives and church members face the difficult wait for formal identification, while the injured remain in hospital following one of the country’s deadliest road crashes in recent months.