Truck causes devastation on N12
All I heard then was Rui screaming ‘my family, my family’, as my vehicle, which was parked in front of his, took most of the impact from the truck, toppling it over and pushing it into Rui's car.
IN rainy and misty weather on Monday, January 30, a truck hit a vehicle on the N12 East, just before the R59 off-ramp, causing the car to be pushed onto the side of the highway and traffic to back-up.
Two motorists stopped their vehicles to offer assistance to the driver, who couldn’t get out of the car. “I saw the accident happen in front of me and then saw smoke coming from the crashed car. I immediately stopped to assist the driver,” said Alberton resident David McCullough. Another motorist also stopped to help. “I left my wife, four-year-old son and 10-month-old daughter in the car, which I’d pulled off the highway far enough so they wouldn’t be in any danger,” said Rui Natario, a resident of Florentia, Alberton.
READ: One injured in five-car pile-up on N12
David recalls the harrowing events that next unfolded.
“We were trying to get the driver out of his car when we saw another truck coming straight for us. Both Rui and I jumped up onto the rocks at the side of the highway and then I saw the truck hit my stationary bakkie and Rui’s car. All I heard then was Rui screaming ‘my family, my family’, as my vehicle, which was parked in front of his, took most of the impact from the truck, toppling it over and pushing it into Rui’s car.
All three of Rui’s family members were rushed to the Clinton Hospital, Alberton, for medical treatment.
“I still can’t believe this happened; it’s a nightmare. Looking at my Hi Rider bakkie now, all I can say is thank God I wasn’t in it when the truck hit. It seems Rui’s family were injured but not too badly, and have been taken to hospital,” added David.
A total of five light motor vehicles and two trucks were involved in the collision. One person was trapped in his vehicle, having sustained serious injuries which required advanced life support interventions. Fire fighters removed the driver from the wreckage using the jaws of life and other specialised rescue equipment. Once freed, the patient was transported to a nearby trauma centre under advanced life support care.
Another motorist, who was outside his vehicle at the time of the secondary crash, sustained a serious fracture to one of his lower limbs and also required advanced life support care.
Local authorities were at the scene to conduct a full investigation.
The RECORD spoke to Rui on Tuesday morning. “My wife and baby daughter were discharged last night but my four-year-old son is still in hospital with concussion. This morning we are counting our blessings. Looking at photographs of the accident scene, I am truly thankful my family survived,” he said.
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