HARARE , Zimbabwe ( CNN ) -- Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe said Monday that he does not believe foul play was involved in a car wreck that killed his wife . The vehicle the couple were traveling in was left overturned off the highway . `` When something like that happens there is speculation , but I want to assure you if it was foul play , it is one in a thousand , '' he said Monday . `` It was an accident that took her life . '' Tsvangirai 's comments came amid widespread speculation that the wreck was caused by his political opponents aligned with President Robert Mugabe . Tsvangirai 's political party , the Movement for Democratic Change , has said the crash was an assassination attempt . It has called for an independent inquiry . Zimbabwe 's new prime minister was hurt in the wreck and returned home Monday from neighboring Botswana . `` Life has to go on and I 'm certain that if she was here she would liked life to go on , '' he said . `` It will be difficult to fill the gap left by her . '' Tsvangirai has long been a leading opposition figure in Zimbabwe , but he joined a coalition government with Mugabe last month . That seemed to resolve an impasse created by a disputed presidential election between Mugabe and Tsvangirai last year . Tsvangirai received the most votes in the March 2008 election , but he fell short of the 50 percent required to avoid a runoff . He withdrew as a candidate in the runoff , citing political violence and intimidation targeting his supporters . Negotiations between the two sides culminated in the power-sharing agreement that was implemented just weeks ago . Questions about the wreck surfaced shortly after it happened Friday on a busy two-lane highway between Tsvangirai 's hometown of Buhera and the capital city of Harare . On Saturday , members of Tsvangirai 's political party , the Movement for Democratic Change , told CNN that Tsvangirai believed that the driver of the truck that struck his car deliberately drove toward him in an effort to take his life . The party 's secretary-general , Tendai Biti , said police should have provided better security for Tsvangirai . The wreck might not have happened , he said , if a police escort been on hand . A former U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe , Tom McDonald , said the wreck raised suspicion . `` I 'm skeptical about any motor vehicle accident in Zimbabwe involving an opposition figure , '' said McDonald , who was ambassador to Zimbabwe from 1997 to 2001 . `` President Mugabe has a history of strange car accidents when someone , lo and behold , dies -- it 's sort of his M.O . of how they get rid of people they do n't like . '' McDonald , however , was quick to add that traffic accidents are common in Zimbabwe . The highway on which Tsvangirai was traveling is a two-lane road on which tractor-trailers are common , he said . Vehicles in the country are often in bad shape and many drivers are inexperienced , he said . `` It 's certainly plausible that this was just one of those tragic things , '' he said . -- CNN 's Nkepile Mabuse contributed to this report .
Tsvangirai : `` It was an accident that took her life '' she had been shot in the head by a stray bullet while riding on a motorbike. Much speculation the wreck was caused by his political opponents . Former U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe said the wreck raised suspicion .