HARARE, Feb 14 (NewsDay Live) - THE Insurance Council of Zimbabwe (ICZ) has Friday moved to provide ex-gratia assistance to the victims and families of a bus accident that occurred Thursday morning along the Masvingo-Beitbridge Highway.
This intervention comes as the bus operator lacked the legally required public passenger liability insurance, leaving the victims without standard compensation benefits.
A total 25 people died after the crash while several others sustained serious injuries.
ICZ chief executive officer Donald Muthe said in a move co-ordinated with the Department of Civil Protection, the ICZ would cover funeral expenses for those who lost their lives in the accident.
“The Insurance Council of Zimbabwe (ICZ), in liaison with the Department of Civil Protection, shall provide ex-gratia assistance for funeral and medical expenses,” Muthe said.
“ICZ has contracted a funeral services firm to provide services for the deceased.
“ICZ will also make payments to hospitals treating the injured.”
The bus, Urban Connect, collided head-on with a haulage truck, resulting in 25 fatalities and multiple serious injuries.
- ICZ bails out Beitbridge road accident victims
Keep Reading
Seventeen of the victims, including the bus’s conductor, died on the spot and some of the victims who sustained serious injuries died after being admitted to Beitbridge District Hospital.
The collision occurred about 150 meters from Tshapfuche tollgate, 26km from Beitbridge.
Muthe added that the council’s ex-gratia payments aim to alleviate the financial burden on families.
“ICZ is providing assistance through ex-gratia payments because the Urban Connect bus did not have the requisite public passenger liability cover for compensation benefits to the victims and their beneficiaries as provided by the Road Traffic Act,” he said.
“ICZ, in liaison with the Department of Civil Protection, is on the scene and making concerted effort towards the provision of necessary assistance to the victims and their families.”
President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared the accident a national disaster.
