An Air Zimbabwe plane crashed last week after hitting a bush pig during take off at Harare International airport.

A statement from the Transport Ministry said that one of Air Zimbabwe's Chinese-made MA60 60-seaters had sustained damage to its nose, wingtip and propeller after hitting the animal.

However, a letter from a passenger published in the Standard newspaper revealed that the incident was far more serious than the ministry had admitted, the Times reports.

Fambai Ngirande said that it was "by God's grace" that he and the other 37 passengers and crew on board the flight to the western city of Bulawayo had not died. The airline had "no disaster response strategy" and its personnel "did not have a clue" of what to do in a crisis, he said.

"The plane was just about to lift off when we heard a loud bang from underneath followed by violent shaking of the entire aircraft," wrote Mr Ngirande. "The aircraft veered off the runway into the grass before it came to a halt. Smoke and dust engulfed the cabin as passengers screamed for dear life." However, hostesses discovered that one of the emergency exits was jammed. Eventually passengers had to jump out of the stricken plane when the main doors were finally opened.

To read full London Telegraph story — Go Here Now.