47 people have been killed in Zimbabwe after two buses collided with each other on a highway.
The two long distance buses had been travelling in opposite directions and collided near Rusape, some 105 miles east of the capital Harare on Wednesday evening.
The death toll included 45 adults and two children and could rise, according to police.
The Herald newspaper reported that the number of dead had overwhelmed the local mortuary.
District medical officer Dr Tendai Nyafesu said that the mortuary had capacity for 16 bodies.
He added: “This is horrific. It is not something easy to accept and we are very saddened by this sad development in our district.”
The driver and conductor of one of the buses, a Smart Express bus, survived and are said to have fled the scene.
Bus accidents are frequent in Zimbabwe, where speeding often means more money for bus crews that compete for customers and try to make as many trips as possible per day.
The road where the accident happened was recently resurfaced as part of government attempts at rehabilitating collapsing road infrastructure.
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