At least 25 people were killed and 46 others seriously injured in a head-on crash between two public buses on a major highway near Zimbabwean capital Harare on Sunday, a top police spokesperson said.

The two buses, one from the government-run The Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO) and the other from Unifreight Africa Limited (buses branded Pioneer), collided on the Harare- Nyamanpanda highway about 35 kilometers from Harare at 11:45 a.m. local time Sunday, police spokesperson Charity Charamba told Xinhua over phone.

Initial police investigation showed that the Pioneer bus crossed the lane and rammed through the ZUPCO bus on its right- side. Charamba said twenty-four people died on spot while one was confirmed dead on way to hospital, adding the injured were hospitalized in Harare.

"It is a very unfortunate accident that could have been avoided, " Charamba said, adding that the crash happened in broad daylight and it was not raining hard, indicating the driver might have played a major part in the accident.

But she said the police haven't concluded the investigation and it remained not immediately clear whether the drivers were among the casualties.

The Harare-Nyamapanda road leading to Mozambique is one of the busiest highways in Zimbabwe. Though the police haven't said whether there were foreigners among the casualties, the public bus was usually favored by local Zimbabweans but shunned by foreign visitors.

It is the deadliest road accident in Zimbabwe since 2009. Deadly road accidents often occur in Zimbabwe due to poor road conditions, speeding, and the proliferation of poorly-maintained vehicles. The last deadly road accident of this scale was recorded in 2009 when a bus burst a tyre and fell into a river, killing 30 people.