Tsvangirai says wife's death was an accident

Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said today there was “no foul play” involved in a car accident that killed his wife and injured him.

He addressed mourners gathered outside his home in Harare after returning to the Zimbabwe capital following medical treatment in Botswana.

Zimbabwe’s long history of political violence blamed on president Robert Mugabe’s forces – including several assassination attempts on Mr Tsvangirai - has fuelled speculation that Friday’s car crash was not an accident.

But Mr Tsvangirai told supporters: “In this case I want to say there is no foul play. It was an accident.”

The couple’s four-wheel-drive vehicle collided with a truck carrying US aid on the outskirts of the capital on a notoriously dangerous road.

A rally in honour of Susan Tsvangirai will be held tomorrow on her husband's 57th birthday. The funeral will take place on Wednesday. The couple had been married for more than three decades and had six children together.

“We know that we shall all die, but let’s celebrate the life of Susan because we have gone through trials and tribulations together,” said Mr Tsvangirai.

He said he had returned to Harare to resume his duties in Zimbabwe’s unity government because that is what his wife would have wanted.

The death triggered an outpouring of grief across the country in a show of the couple’s popularity. Thousands of mourners were keeping vigil outside the house where Mrs Tsvangirai’s body is lying in state.

“It is painful for us but we have to look forward ... because she would have wanted us to continue moving on,” Mr Tsvangirai said.

Mr Tsvangirai’s party has called for an investigation into Friday’s crash and has questioned the security measures for the prime minister.

The coalition was formed after a dispute over the presidential election nearly a year ago and months of state-sponsored violence against members of Mr Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change and independent political activists.

Zimbabwe has the world’s highest official inflation rate, a hunger crisis that has left most of its people dependent on foreign handouts and a cholera epidemic blamed on the collapse of a once-enviable health and sanitation system.