Passion Link operator’s licence cancelled after bus fire kills 8 pilgrims

By Staff Reporter
Transport minister Felix Mhona says government has cancelled Passion Link Coaches’ operating licence after 8 Anglican Diocese of Manicaland pilgrims were Sunday burnt beyond recognition in Rusape while returning from their shrine at Bernard Mizeki in Marondera.
The doomed bus was unroadworthy, the minister said.
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The horrific incident left 10 other passengers injured, three of them seriously.
The injured were ferried for treatment at Rusape General Hospital.
ALSO READ: PASSION LINK OPERATOR’S LICENCE CANCELLED AFTER BUS FIRE KILLS 8 PILGRIMS
Both the owner of the company and the bus driver will be prosecuted.
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Mhona said, “From the facts we have gathered, this bus was not roadworthy and frequently experienced mechanical faults along the way. The bus operator has openly admitted that the bus had no certificate of fitness, meaning it was not roadworthy. A bus that does not have a certificate of fitness should not be used to ferry people, and the police will arrest both the bus owner and driver as part of investigations.
“The other buses from this company will not be allowed to ply our roads again with immediate effect. We have cancelled their operating permit, which means we will not allow them to ply our roads for the purpose of carrying people. If they had complied with the traffic laws, which do not allow buses without a certificate of fitness to ply our roads, this accident could have been avoided.