TRAGEDY IN HWANGE: Toyota Noah Driver Arrested After Bridge Plunge Kills Eight Catholic Church Members

HWANGE — Police have arrested the driver of a Toyota Noah following a horrific weekend accident that claimed the lives of eight Roman Catholic Church members when the vehicle plummeted off the Deka River Bridge into the waters below. The driver, identified as Fanuel Mathe, was behind the wheel of the severely overloaded vehicle, which was carrying 13 passengers when the disaster struck on Saturday morning near Hwange.

While initial police dispatches on Saturday briefly misidentified the vehicle as a traditional commuter omnibus (kombi), subsequent investigations confirmed it was a Toyota Noah. Commissioner Steven Kazingizi, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Officer Commanding Matabeleland North Province, confirmed that Mathe has been officially detained. He is currently being held at the Hwange Police Station and faces multiple counts of culpable homicide.

The victims, all devout members of the Roman Catholic Church, were traveling back from an intense night prayer gathering hosted by the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement at St. John’s Makwa Mission. According to police reports, the vehicle struck the Deka River Bridge’s concrete safety barriers before toppling over the edge and plunging directly into the river. Rescuers recovered eight bodies from the scene, while the remaining five passengers sustained varying degrees of injuries.

The tragedy has sent shockwaves through the local Christian community. In response, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hwange has declared three days of official, diocese-wide mourning, running from Monday, May 25, through Wednesday, May 27, 2026.

In a poignant condolence notice, the Bishop of Hwange, Father Raphael Ncube, directed all parishes to dedicate their altars to the victims.

“I hereby announce to all of us in the whole Diocese to observe three days of mourning as a Diocese... I ask that all Masses in these three days be Masses for these deceased brothers and sisters," Bishop Ncube stated.

The Bishop further requested that priests celebrating Gregorian Masses offer an additional daily Mass during the mourning period to pray for the souls of the deceased, extending the directive to all Hwange priests currently serving outside the borders of the diocese.

Hwange Toyota Noah accident 2026