Tynwald High School in Harare held a memorial church service for its six pupils who were killed in a bus accident in Nyanga last year. The memorial service marked the end of the official five-month mourning period.
The accident claimed the lives of Anita Manyuka, Craig Madanhire, Kimberly Mutusva, Anesu Hove, Beyonce Guyo, and Destiny Dziva, and their teacher, Chamunorwa Rukwana, who succumbed to his injuries later in hospital.
In a speech read on her behalf, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education permanent secretary, Tumisang Thabela, said:
What happened here is no ordinary event. No parent has to bury their child.
To date I know we are still trying to make sense of it. Tynwald School is still trying to make sense of it, Warren Park District is still trying to make sense of it.
As a ministry, we are still trying to make sense of it. The whole nation is still trying to make sense of it.
We are all left wondering what plan could this have been part of. What possible meaning or lesson can be gleaned from this?
Unfortunately, there are no easy answers, and as difficult and painful as it is, we need to accept that they are gone. Instead of mourning, let’s remember them and celebrate their lives.
As a family, as friends, as a community and as a nation, we still express our sadness.
We acknowledge our loss, and acknowledge the great importance of all the seven lives we lost as a result of the Nyanga tragedy.
According to a leaked internal police memorandum, on October 14, 2022, at around 7 pm, Chamunorwa Machimbidzofa (43), was driving a blue and white Higer bus belonging to Tynwald High School along Rusape-Nyanga road with 41 students and four staff members on board. It reads:
Upon reaching the 75-kilometre peg on the said road at a sharp curve, the sole party failed to negotiate a curve, veered off the road to the left and rolled several times on a steep slope.
In the process threw out some passengers, injuring 34 of them and killing five on the spot the bus landed on its roof.
Police said Beyonce, Anita, Destiny, Kimberly and Craig died on the spot, while Anesuishe died upon admission at Nyanga District Hospital.
Source: PindulaNews
In other news – 80-year-old gogo abandoned by own children
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The octogenarian, identified as Gogo Khethiwe Ncube, was discovered by neighbours on Friday noon in a sorry state without anyone to take care of her.Learn More
