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Tsvangirai says crash an accident | Tsvangirai says crash an accident |
(30 minutes later) | |
Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said the car crash that killed his wife was an accident. | Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said the car crash that killed his wife was an accident. |
Mr Tsvangirai said there was only a "one in a thousand" chance that the incident involved any foul play. | Mr Tsvangirai said there was only a "one in a thousand" chance that the incident involved any foul play. |
He was speaking as the lorry driver involved in the collision was expected to plead not guilty to culpable homicide at a court appearance. | He was speaking as the lorry driver involved in the collision was expected to plead not guilty to culpable homicide at a court appearance. |
Mr Tsvangirai has returned to Zimbabwe to prepare his wife's funeral after undergoing treatment in Botswana. | Mr Tsvangirai has returned to Zimbabwe to prepare his wife's funeral after undergoing treatment in Botswana. |
"When something happens, there is always speculation but I want to say in this case, if there was any foul play, it was one in a thousand," Mr Tsvangirai was quoted as telling mourners outside his home in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare. | "When something happens, there is always speculation but I want to say in this case, if there was any foul play, it was one in a thousand," Mr Tsvangirai was quoted as telling mourners outside his home in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare. |
Referring to his late wife, Susan, he said: "It was an accident and unfortunately it took her life." | |
Many Zimbabweans are suspicious about Mrs Tsvangirai's death, because of past acrimony between Mr Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe. | Many Zimbabweans are suspicious about Mrs Tsvangirai's death, because of past acrimony between Mr Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe. |
Police have said a lorry carrying aid crossed into the lane in which the prime minister's 4x4 was travelling on Friday and side-swiped the vehicle, causing it to roll over three times. | Police have said a lorry carrying aid crossed into the lane in which the prime minister's 4x4 was travelling on Friday and side-swiped the vehicle, causing it to roll over three times. |
Rally planned | |
Lorry driver Chinoona Mwanda, 35, was appearing at a magistrates' court in the town of Chivu in the province of Mashonaland East, about 200km (124 miles) south-east of Harare. | |
His lawyer said he was attributing the accident to the poor state of the road.Morgan and Susan Tsvangirai had been married for 31 years | |
Thousands of people from the townships of Harare have been walking long distances to the prime minister's home in Strathaven, a western suburb of the capital, to pay their respects to Mrs Tsvangirai. | |
Zimbabwean journalist Brian Hungwe says a rally is to be held at Glamis Stadium in Harare on Tuesday to pay tribute to Mrs Tsvangirai on the eve of her burial. | |
Mr Tsvangirai's long-time political rival President Mugabe and his wife Grace visited the MDC leader's bedside on Friday evening. | |
Mr Tsvangirai, who had previously spent time in Botswana while in opposition, flew there on Saturday for medical tests and rest after leaving a private clinic in Harare, MDC officials said. | |
He was treated for head and neck injuries from Friday's crash at the hospital in the capital. | |
Officials from Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change had said they saw nothing to suggest foul play, but that they want to carry out their own investigation of the collision. | |
The British foreign ministry said the truck was part of an aid project jointly funded by the US and UK and that the crash appeared to be "a genuine accident". | |
The collision came two days after Mr Tsvangirai delivered his maiden speech to parliament after being sworn in as prime minister in Zimbabwe's power-sharing government. | |
But relations between the MDC and Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party remain tense, with MDC ministerial nominee Roy Bennett still in custody, accused of links to an alleged plot to kill Mr Mugabe. |