Stephen Ephraem in Checheche
ABOUT 30 000 litres of diesel that were destined for the Chisumbanje Ethanol Project were lost after the tanker carrying the commodity was involved in an accident with a Nissan Saloon vehicle on Monday.
The accident happened at the 190km peg along the Ngundu-Tanganda Highway at 3.30pm.
The Chisumbanje Police Station's officer-in-charge, Chief Inspector Mutseta, confirmed the accident and said the driver of the tanker, Dzikamai Majenga, was in a stable condition although he was referred to Harare for further treatment.
It is alleged that Steward Mtetwa (20) who was driving a white Nissan Saloon from Checheche Growth Point towards Chiredzi overtook the fuel tanker belonging to Strauss Logistic before St Peter's Turn-Off.
"After overtaking the tanker, Mtetwa immediately returned to the left lane. After a short while, the driver of the tanker, Dzikamai Majenga, changed to the right lane in-order to overtake the car. That is the same time when Mtetwa indicated that he wanted to turn right. Trying to avoid a collision, Majenga returned to the left lane, but it was too late. The two vehicles side-swiped and the tanker overturned. The car was damaged on its whole rear fend, boot, rear windscreen, left rear wheel, and left rear door," said Chief Insp Mutseta.
When The Manica Post arrived at the scene, Majenga had been rushed to the Chiredzi General Hospital.
He sustained a fracture on the right leg and experienced some chest pains. The driver of the car was nowhere to be found. He later resurfaced around 7pm.
Members of the public were busy looting the spilling diesel and police from Chisumbanje Police Station had to rush to the scene to control the swelling crowd.
The recipients of the diesel, Green Fuel, had to bring in metal drums, which they used to collect the remaining diesel.
An official from Green Fuel could not confirm the actual number of litres lost, but only said the tanker had a capacity of 38 000 litres and more than 30 000 litres could have been lost.