Survivors of Beitbridge accident transferred to Harare as images of injured victims in 'cardboard casts' go viral and break the internet

Harare – The grim aftermath of last week's horrific Beitbridge accident, which claimed 25 lives in Zimbabwe, continues to unfold as survivors are transferred to Harare for further treatment amid widespread outrage over the appalling conditions at local hospitals.

Images of injured victims with limbs supported by makeshift cardboard casts, held together with cellotape and cloths, have gone viral, sparking a firestorm of criticism against President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government in Zimbabwe.

Discovery Ambulances, a Harare-based private healthcare provider, stepped in to transfer five of the 56 survivors to Harare on Sunday evening. Elliot Chivige, the practitioner in charge of the crew, stated that Discovery Ambulances would assume all medical bills, transport costs, and any outstanding bills for the five patients.

"We are responding to government ‘s call for access to health for all and that Zimbabweans are responsible for the development of their country. We have come to pick these five so they are closer to their relatives in Harare," Chivige said.

Beitbridge Mayor Peter Mafuta Pirato expressed his gratitude to Discovery Ambulance Services for relieving the overburdened Beitbridge Hospital, which he said had been stretched to its limit. "We also appeal to government to upgrade Beitbridge Hospital which has since handled more than a district hospital should," he added.

However, the spotlight remains firmly fixed on the government's response to the tragedy, with harrowing images of survivors at local hospitals circulating online. The pictures, showing broken limbs crudely splinted with cardboard and tape, have exposed the dire state of Zimbabwe's healthcare system.

The tragic collision, involving a Beitbridge-bound Urban Connect bus and a haulage truck carrying magnesium to Chirundu near the Lutumba toll gate on the Beitbridge-Masvingo highway last Thursday, left scores seriously injured, fighting for their lives in critical condition.

Last year, Neshuro District Hospital, one of the closest medical facilities to the accident site, was already creaking under the strain of inadequate resources. Reports had indicated that the hospital lacked a functional mortuary, kitchen, and even a washing machine, with nurses resorting to using sticks to clean hospital linen – a telling sign of the neglect plaguing the health system nationwide.

The situation has drawn sharp criticism from across the political spectrum, with many questioning the government's priorities. Cabinet ministers, who descended upon the accident scene and later visited victims in hospital, have been accused of being unfazed by the desperate situation.

Transport Minister Felix Tapiwa Mhona, Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe, and Matebeleland South Provincial Minister Eveline Ndlovu were photographed posing at an unnamed hospital, believed to be Neshuro District Hospital, with accident victims whose limbs were held together by cardboard and tape – a photo opportunity that has been widely condemned as a callous public relations stunt.

Further adding insult to injury, it emerged that the Urban Connect bus, responsible for 24 deaths, was operating without a valid route permit, and the driver lacked a valid retest certificate, pointing to a wider problem of lax regulations and enforcement.

Since Saturday, critics have been pulling no punches in their condemnation of Mnangagwa’s government, describing the incident as an utter embarrassment and a damning indictment of the government’s unwillingness to invest in well-equipped hospitals for the benefit of ordinary citizens.

Renowned lawyer and former Mt Pleasant MP Advocate Fadzayi Mahere has been particularly vocal, holding Information Permanent Secretary Nick Mangwana to account.

“We are not letting this healthcare issue go,” Mahere posted on X on Sunday. “Why is the practice of using makeshift cardboard boxes to treat fractures so widespread in our public hospitals? Where is the dignity? Surely, you must all resign. This level of incompetence borders on the criminal. It’s a mess. We need new leaders.”

Mahere continued her broadside in another post on X Sunday, February 16, 2025: “They promised us affordable, quality healthcare. Instead, they have given us cardboard boxes to use as casts to treat fractures, no clean water in public hospitals, torn hospital beds and no medication. It’s a mess.”

The incident has reignited the debate about the state of Zimbabwe's healthcare system and the government's commitment to providing adequate medical care for its citizens. As the survivors continue their recovery in Harare, the pressure mounts on the government to address the systemic issues that have led to such a deplorable situation.

Self-exiled Zanu PF loyalist Kudzai Mutisi, based in South Africa, also weighed in, lambasting his own party’s ministers as useless, unable to deliver even the most basic services to the people.

“A Cabinet Minister is witnessing FIRST HAND how his colleague in the Ministry of Health and Child Care has FAILED to do simple things. Felix Mhona will leave the hospital and SAY NOTHING about a dysfunctional system he witnessed.

“In fact, he might join the 2030ists asking for more time to play. If you can’t do it now, then you certainly won’t do it even if given 40 more years. The current team of ministers lacks urgency and has misplaced priorities,” said Mutisi in his X post on Sunday.

Even former cabinet minister Saviour Kasukuwere, who served under the late President Robert Mugabe and is himself considered by many to bear some culpability for the systemic deficiencies crippling Zimbabwe’s healthcare, has now weighed in, adding his voice to the chorus of condemnation levelled at Mnangagwa’s government over the deplorable treatment of accident victims.

“This is not normal,” he posted Sunday.

He joins the fray with a clear vested interest, as it would be imprudent to discount how much the issue will improve his standing amongst the masses.

Kasukuwere’s erstwhile colleague, former cabinet minister Professor Jonathan Moyo – a figure currently out of favour with many both within and outside Zanu PF, and seemingly sitting on the fence regarding Mnangagwa’s 2030 term extension, waiting to see which way the wind blows – could not remain silent, despite his recent show of support for the government.

He posted on his X account on Sunday: “This dispiriting image is an indictment of the state of the administration and delivery of public health in the country.”