President Robert Mugabe Friday declared two days of mourning over the loss of 78 lives in the worst bus crash in the country's history and ordered a full investigation into a spate of fatal road accidents in recent months.
After inspecting the site of Thursday's accident 50 miles northeast of Harare, Mugabe declared a national disaster to mobilize relief funds for relatives of the victims and two days of mourning to "share this moment of sorrow," the national news agency reported.Home Affairs Minister Moven Mahachi surveyed the twisted wreckage and told reporters that 78 people had died, including many farmers, nine children and the driver of the vehicle, and that 26 others were seriously injured.
The bus, intended to carry only 75 passengers, plunged off a bridge and landed on its roof in the virtually dry Chivake River bed after a tire blew out, according to police and witnesses.
Rescue teams worked through the night to retrieve the bodies.
Mugabe, the Zimbabwean news agency Ziana reported, expressed his "deepest sorrow and grief to the bereaved families and to our whole nation.
"The circumstances that led to this accident will be fully investigated. This year alone, we have experienced far too many fatal accidents on our roads, in most cases quite needlessly," he said. "The government is determined to put an end to this tragic loss of life and limb."
The death toll eclipsed the worst previous accident in June 1982, when 61 farmers died.