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Top Africa stories: Zim horror accident, Denmark withholds aid to Tanzania over gay rights

Zim horror accident: Bus was headed to SA, 'completely incinerated'

Fire swept through a passenger bus in Zimbabwe, and police said on Friday that more than 40 people died and at least 20 were injured, some with severe burns.

Police spokesperson Charity Charamba said she did not have details about the cause of the accident on Thursday night.

A photograph posted on Twitter by the Zimbabwe Red Cross shows the remains of a bus that was completely incinerated. The Red Cross said its teams responded to a "horrific accident" involving a bus heading to neighbouring South Africa at around midnight.

Accident

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PICS: Passengers in Zimbabwe caught in bus fire... at least 42 killed

At least 42 passengers have been confirmed dead, Zimbabwe police said on Friday, after a suspected gas tank exploded on a bus, with pictures showing the burnt-out wreckage of the vehicle.

"At the moment we know that more than 42 people died," police spokesperson Charity Charamba told AFP after the accident late on Thursday, with state media reporting a gas tank belonging to a passenger was believed to have exploded.

"Our police officers are at the scene," Charamba added.

Accident

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WATCH: Zim opposition leader Chamisa calls his supporters 'stupid'

Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party leader Nelson Chamisa has had to apologise to his supporters for calling them "stupid" for taking to the streets on August 1 to protest a delay in poll results, resulting in a deadly army crackdown.

Chamisa made the comments at a press conference on Thursday at which he said he would not appear before a commission of enquiry into the violence unless President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his two vice presidents did too.

"My remarks to condemn those who killed or injured the innocent, burnt cars & destroyed property on 1 August used 'words' that regrettably created the wrong impression," Chamisa wrote on Twitter after a storm of criticism on social media erupted.

Nelson Chamisa

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Denmark withholds aid to Tanzania over gay rights

Denmark is cutting about $10 million in aid to the government of Tanzania over what it called "negative developments" in human rights in the East African country.

Ulla Tornaes, Denmark's minister for development co-operation, said on Twitter she was "deeply concerned" by developments such as a Tanzanian official's "completely unacceptable homophobic statements."

Tanzania is increasingly under the spotlight over its human rights record. Denmark is one of the largest donors to the country.

Gay

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Zim city mulls compulsory cremation for people under the age of 25 – report

Zimbabwe's second largest city, Bulawayo, is reportedly planning to introduce mandatory cremation for people who die at the age of 25 and below due to shortage of burial space.

According to the state-owned Chronicle newspaper, Bulawayo City Council debated the contentious issue at its recent meeting.

One of the city’s six burial ground’s – West Park Cemetery – has space for just 200 graves, said the report.

Cremation

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