Zimbabwe cholera death toll nears 500

ZIMBABWE yesterday slipped deeper into crisis as the death toll from a cholera epidemic neared 500 and members of President Robert Mugabe’s armed forces were accused of taking part in a looting spree.

While the army played down violence by a “small number of indisciplined soldiers” directed against dealers in desperately-short foreign currency, the leader of the opposition said the country was completely collapsing.

With the capital Harare without water for a second day running, staff at the city’s main hospital stayed away from work. Employees also failed to show at hospitals in two other key cities, Bulawayo and Mutare.