Crash that killed Tsvangirai's wife was 'a genuine accident'

Published on Saturday 7 March 2009 22:41

THE road crash that killed the wife of Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai appears to have been a "genuine accident", the Foreign Office said last night.

A spokeswoman for the department said the lorry that hit Tsvangirai's convoy yesterday belonged to a project that was jointly funded by the UK and US. "All indications are that this was a genuine accident," she said.

Tsvangirai and his wife Susan were travelling south of Harare on Friday when the crash took place. Mrs Tsvangirai died and her husband and an aide escaped with minor injuries.

Zimbabwe's roads are notoriously treacherous, but there was immediate speculation that the incident may have been an assassination bid.

Tsvangirai became prime minister just last month after hammering out a power- sharing deal with bitter rival Robert Mugabe, the president.

The agreement was meant to end almost a year of stalemate, as the country was wracked by economic turmoil and a devastating cholera outbreak.

Mugabe tried to quash rumours that he was involved in some way by visiting Tsvangirai in hospital in Harare.

The driver of the lorry, a Zimbabwean contractor, was also said to have admitted being asleep at the wheel. However, Tsvangirai's party, the Movement for Democratic change said yesterday it would conduct an independent investigation into the crash.

"We cannot talk of foul play until it has been proved what has really transpired," a party spokesman said.

The prime minister was discharged from hospital last night and flew to Botswana for medical tests and rest. Gordon Brown and other world leaders have sent their condolences. Tsvangirai, 56, and his wife married in 1978, and had six children. Susan Tsvangirai preferred to stay silent in public, but appeared prominently by her husband's side when he was charged with treason for opposing Mugabe and put on trial.

Tsvangirai is said to continue to rely on his own security team – indicating his lack of confidence in the loyalty of government staff after years of brutal repression by Mugabe's regime.