Investigations are underway into a road accident that killed three senior Highlanders Football Club executives along the Harare-Bulawayo Highway on Thursday night, with emergency services saying preliminary information suggests the crash may have been triggered after the vehicle struck a cow.
The accident occurred about 60 kilometres outside Bulawayo and claimed the lives of Highlanders chairman, retired Colonel Kenneth Mhlophe, vice-chairman Sifiso Siziba and executive committee member responsible for finance, Nkani Khoza.
Bulawayo Chief Fire Officer Mhlangano Moyo said emergency services responded to the scene and rescued occupants trapped inside the wreckage of a Ford Ranger Raptor. He cautioned, however, that investigations were continuing and the exact circumstances of the crash had yet to be established.
“We attended the accident. It’s really difficult because the information we have at the moment is that the vehicle hit a cow before colliding with an oncoming bus. Thereafter, there was a pile-up of vehicles at the scene,” Moyo said.
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“But from our assessment of the impact, the vehicles were travelling at a high speed, judging from the severity of the damage and the extent of the entrapment of the people we rescued.”
Police had not released an official account of the accident by the time of publication, saying investigations were continuing.
The Highlanders officials were returning from Kariba, where Bosso had lost 1-0 to ZPC Kariba in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match earlier on Thursday.
In a statement, Highlanders Football Club confirmed the deaths of Mhlophe, Siziba and Khoza, describing them as “the architects of the club’s vision, the guardians of our values, and father figures to so many within the Highlanders Football Club family.”
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