ONE person died while seven others were seriously injured after a bus rammed into a tipper truck at the 160 km peg along the Harare-Nyamapanda Road.

The accident happened on Tuesday at around 4.20pm.

The bus driver of a Rimbi Tours coach was trying to overtake a Zebra Kiss moving in the same direction before hitting the tipper truck.

In a video that has gone viral on social media, two buses can be seen bound in the same direction on a narrow highway. The driver of the leading bus from Zebra Kiss then fails to take heed of a horn warning from the Rimbi bus intending to overtake.

Instead, the Zebra Kiss driver disregards road rules and keeps obstructing the Rimbi driver from overtaking him by encroaching on to the other lane.

Without warning, the Zebra Kiss bus overtakes a tipper truck while the Rimbi driver rams into the back of the truck.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said they were investigating the fatal road traffic accident.

He said drivers were licenced to protect lives on the roads and to set good conduct in terms of road safety.

"The bus driver was trying to overtake the truck whilst being blocked by a Zebra Kiss bus which was travelling in the same direction," Asst Comm Nyathi said.

"It is clear that the bus drivers were racing and blocking each other along the road. They were openly putting the lives of passengers in danger.

"The Zimbabwe Republic Police implores bus operators to rein in their drivers to ensure that they abide by road rules and regulations. Operators have a vicarious responsibility to control their drivers and ensure that drivers are not dragged into dangerous and reckless highway races with other buses for passengers."

He said the police will ensure that the law takes its course on the two bus drivers and the bus companies' management.