Two people were killed and six others injured when a Rimbi Tours bus sideswiped a haulage truck on the Harare–Chirundu Road on Friday morning, November 6, 2026.
The collision happened near Tengwe turn-off and involved a bus carrying 32 passengers and a truck transporting 30 tonnes of calcium carbonate. Both vehicles were heading east towards Chirundu, with the haulage truck travelling ahead of the bus.
Mashonaland West provincial police spokesperson Inspector Ian Kohwera said the truck driver had moved towards the left side of the road after seeing an abnormal load approaching from the opposite direction. The truck driver was making room for that vehicle to pass.
“He pulled off to the left so as to allow safe passage of the abnormal vehicle which was travelling in the opposite direction,” Kohwera said.
The bus was following behind the truck. Kohwera said its driver was travelling at high speed and tried to overtake after noticing that the truck was moving slowly towards the left. As the bus moved out to pass, the driver saw the approaching abnormal vehicle at close range and attempted to return to the bus’s lane.
“He saw an abnormal vehicle at close range and tried to return to his lane but had a sideswipe with the trailer of the haulage truck,” Kohwera said.
The contact was with the truck’s trailer. The bus sustained extensive damage to its front left side. The truck was damaged on the right side of the trailer, and its rear right tail light was also damaged.
The truck’s cargo was affected as well. Fifteen bags of calcium carbonate were damaged in the collision. The load weighed 30 tonnes in total, and the truck was travelling towards Chirundu when the accident occurred.
Two passengers died at the scene. Their bodies were taken to Karoi District Hospital for postmortem examinations, Kohwera said. Six other passengers were injured and taken to the same hospital for treatment. The information released so far does not identify the victims or specify the severity of the injured passengers’ conditions.
The bus had 32 passengers on board. Police have not said how many people were inside the truck, nor have they released further details about the abnormal load travelling in the opposite direction. The account provided by police describes the sequence leading to the collision: the truck moved left to allow the load to pass, the bus attempted to overtake, and the bus driver then tried to return to the lane after seeing the approaching vehicle.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police said the crash occurred near Tengwe turn-off on the Harare–Chirundu Road. Officers were at the scene on Friday morning, and police have since opened an investigation into the circumstances of the accident. No further findings from that investigation had been announced in the information available on Monday, November 9.
Kohwera urged motorists to keep a proper lookout and take care while driving. He said: “Mashonaland West Police would like to continue urging drivers to exercise proper lookout and be cautious when driving to avoid accidents leading to loss of life and property.”
The Rimbi bus crash was one of at least two fatal road accidents reported in Zimbabwe during the first week of November. A separate crash in Chiweshe claimed the life of local religious leader Madzibaba Raison Pachinhevere. Reports said he was driving a vehicle identified as a Toyota Fortuner and described as a gift from businessman Wicknell Chivayo. The vehicle was extensively damaged. No confirmed details were available about how that crash happened or whether anyone else was injured.
The two incidents were reported within days of each other, with the Rimbi collision involving two people killed and six passengers injured, and the Chiweshe crash leaving Pachinhevere dead. Police said investigations into the Harare–Chirundu Road collision were under way. The fatality in Chiweshe added another road death to Zimbabwe’s November toll, while details about that incident remained limited.
For the Rimbi passengers, the journey towards Chirundu ended at the scene of the collision. The damaged bus and truck, the 15 damaged bags of cargo, the two bodies taken to Karoi District Hospital and the six injured passengers formed the immediate aftermath recorded by police. Investigators are now working to establish the full circumstances surrounding the crash.
Kohwera’s account places the three vehicles in the same stretch of road: the Rimbi bus, the truck travelling ahead of it and the abnormal load coming from the other direction. The truck’s movement towards the left was intended to give the approaching vehicle room to pass. The bus driver then tried to overtake the slower-moving truck, but saw the oncoming vehicle at close range and attempted to return to the lane. The sideswipe happened as the bus came back alongside the truck’s trailer. Police have not described the abnormal load or said how far away it was when the bus driver saw it.
Pachinhevere was identified as a member of an Apostolic sect based in Chiweshe. Reports described the Toyota Fortuner as a gift from Chivayo and said it was extensively damaged in the crash. No information available in the reports established whether there were other occupants in the vehicle, or whether anyone else was hurt. The Chiweshe crash therefore adds a separate reported death to the November road toll, while the police account of the Rimbi collision provides details about the vehicles, passengers, injuries and damage.