Harare — THIRTY-SEVEN people were killed while 29 others were injured when a Mhunga bus they were travelling in was involved in an accident with a lorry as it tried to avoid a haulage truck that had stopped in the middle of the road near the 80km peg along the Harare-Masvingo highway early yesterday morning.

All the victims -- 15 men, 15 women and seven children -- died on the spot while the injured were taken to hospitals in Harare where four of them were reported to be in critical condition.

Both drivers survived the crash.

Mutilated and decapitated bodies lay strewn on the roadside as police and paramedics picked up limbs, trying to match them with the bodies.

The bodies of the seven children were a pitiful sight as some of them had open cuts on their faces and broken limbs.

The Masvingo-bound bus was involved in a sideswipe with a South African-registered haulage truck belonging to SRS Trucking Company after the bus driver tried to avoid another truck that had stopped on the highway because the road had been blocked by the branches of a smouldering tree.

Indications are that all the deceased were seated on the left side of the bus, which was badly damaged with all the seats either removed or crumpled.

"I was following behind another lorry which suddenly stopped. When I tried to avoid it, I saw another lorry and decided to go off the road and all I remember is hearing a loud impact," said the bus driver.

There were, however, no skid marks to suggest either driver tried to apply brakes.

According to the truck driver, the bus suddenly appeared in his lane and when he tried to brake, he was hit on the left side.

The whole left front side of the truck was flattened as was the entire left side of the bus.

Traffic police officers at the scene said the bus driver should have stopped behind the haulage truck to find out why it had stopped.

The injured, taken to Chivhu and Beatrice general hospitals, were later transferred to Harare when it became evident that facilities at the two hospitals could not cope with the magnitude of the injuries.

Neither hospital has X-ray equipment or adequate stocks of medicines.

An Air Force of Zimbabwe helicopter ferried the injured from Chivhu.

Bodies were taken to Chivhu General Hospital mortuary where family members were urged to identify their relatives while luggage and other valuables were taken to Featherstone Police Station.

The situation at the mortuary was grim yesterday afternoon as the bodies were piled up in one heap as all the six slots in the morgue were taken up.

"We already have seven bodies in the mortuary. Our mortuary can only carry six bodies at any given time," said Dr Rumbidzai Paradza.

Some families had by last night started identifying their relatives.

The accident has elicited angry reactions from motorists who urged the Government to revoke the Mhunga Bus Service permit as well as carry a thorough check on the roadworthiness of the company's buses.

Chief Enos Musarurwa, who assisted with carrying the injured to Chivhu General Hospital, yesterday called on the Government to investigate the operations of Mhunga Bus Service.

"We cannot have one bus company killing so many people," he said.

The latest accident comes hardly three months after another Mhunga bus burst a front tyre and plunged into Munyati River, killing 30 people and injuring 44 others along the same road.

Transport, Communications and Infrastru-cture Development Minister Nicholas Goche said his officials who attended the scene of the accident had concluded the accident was the result by human error.

"There is a lot of indiscipline on our roads. We urge all motorists to exercise due caution on the roads," he said.

Minister Goche expressed his condolences to the bereaved families adding that more details about the accident would be released, as more information becomes available.

Police national traffic co-ordinator Superinte-ndent Cleopas Muzambi, who was at the scene, attributed the accident to human error.

He advised motorists to exercise extreme caution during the Heroes and Defence Forces holidays saying many people were involved in accidents because of the excitement associated with such public holidays.

Civil Protection Unit director Mr Madzudzo Pawadyira said the Government would assist the bereaved families, adding that his department had recommended that the accident be declared a State of Disaster to enable the release of State resources.

One of the survivors, Mr Trouble Chatikobo, said the bus had trailed the lorry for about 3km before trying to pass it.

He also implied that the bus was speeding.

The Harare-Masvingo highway has become synonymous with fatal accidents over the years.

In April 2007, 10 cross-border traders were killed while 31 others were injured when a Capital Express bus crashed into Pimbi River near Featherstone.

In December of the same year, 12 members of a Harare family died on the spot while three others sustained serious injuries when their truck collided with a Mhunga bus.