ALBERTON – A heavy goods truck travelling along the N12 highway east on Tuesday morning October 14 at about 07:55. careered into over fifty vehicles, which were stationary in morning rush hour traffic.
According to an eyewitness, the truck driver hooted and hooted for vehicles to get out of his way but because of the backlog of vehicles the drivers had nowhere to go. He must have seen the petrol tanker a bit further up the highway, stuck in traffic, and to avoid the tanker, he pulled his truck over to the right but unfortunately hit other vehicles before coming to a standstill against the concrete barrier.
“People are saying the truck driver was speeding but he wasn’t driving so fast. He hooted but no one could move. It was terrible to see it all happening and not to be able to do anything to stop it,” said Caroline Pheiffer.
Another eyewitness said, “After the truck hit all the vehicles it was deathly quiet. No one moved for seconds and then all hell broke loose.”
Wayne Lategan was on his way to Nigel when the accident happened. “I’m a rep for Q-Bond and as I was driving on the N12, slowing down because of the traffic backlog. I saw the mayhem and a vehicle burst into flames in front of me. I didn’t actually even think about what I was doing but screamed for a fire extinguisher and ran to the burning car. I was thinking how I would get the driver out if his seat belt was on him, but I just pulled and pulled him and managed to get him out. Someone did arrive seconds later with a fire extinguisher and put the fire out. This is absolutely disastrous. So many people injured,” he said.
Asheena Patel was on her way to work when the accident happened. “I heard the most weird noise, like a train slowing down and I looked back and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. A truck was coming closer and closer to me and all the other cars which were stationary in the traffic. I heard a massive bang and hit the vehicle in front of me. There was no way I could have stopped my car from hitting the one in front of me.
“After all the bangs and screaming, everything went very quiet. I’ve never been in an accident and for a moment I didn’t know what to do. I climbed out of my car and it was just utter chaos. People running around crying, while others were lying on the road injured. I was in shock but I walked to the side of the accident scene and waited for the ambulances to arrive. It seemed like ages but I’m sure the emergency people came quickly. My arm was bandaged and I’ll go to the hospital once I can leave the scene,” she told the reporter.
According to EMS two people tragically lost their lives in the accident, six are critically injured and multiple people sustained injuries ranging from moderate to serious.
Netcare1 helicopter and two others landed on the highway to transport the most critical to hospitals in the area.
* We’ll keep readers updated as more news comes in.
