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Zimbabwe's new Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was injured in a car crash that killed his wife, just three weeks after he assumed office in the national unity government. Emerging reports say it it could be a failed assassination attempt. However, reports could not be verified.
The couple was heading to Tsvangirai's hometown in Buhera district for a rally when their vehicle collided with a truck,
300 km outside the capital Harare, party officials said.
The Prime Minister's wife, Susan Tsvangirai died at the scene of the accident on Friday night.
"Tsvangirai died instantly in the crash," Nelson Chamisa, a spokesperson for Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, told South Africa's national broadcaster, SABC.
The Prime Minister, who got injured in the accident, has been admitted to hospital and is in a stable condition.
Tsvangirai, 56, was sworn in three weeks ago after agreeing to join a government of national unity with long-time rival President Robert Mugabe.
But the crash raised new concerns about the success of the government that has already been shaken by the arrest of Roy Bennett, one-time white farmer who became a top aide to Tsvangirai.
Zimbabwe is currently plagued by wide-scale social and economic destabilisation and a cholera epidemic that has claimed more than 3,800 lives. Over 85,000 people are also infected with the disease.