“Bloody weekend” as 9 die and 17 injured in just 24 hours across Ekurhuleni

In two days seven lives were lost to road accidents and two others succumbed to gunshot wounds in different incidents on the roads around the City.

June 3, 2019

Roedolf Walker 3 minutes read

SEVEN lives were lost to road accidents and two others succumbed to gunshot wounds in different incidents on the roads around the City of Ekurhuleni this past weekend.

The first incident occurred on the morning of May 31 on the N17 freeway east bound at the Osborn Road on ramp.

A motor vehicle impacted an allegedly stationary pick-up truck with nine occupants that was parked in the emergency lane.

The crash resulted in two passengers being instantly killed and seven others injured. The freeway had to be closed for the duration of the clean-up operation.

Four of the injured passengers were critical and one had to be flown to Sunshine Hospital in Benoni by medical helicopter. The others were transported by ambulances to the same hospital.

On June 1 at around 5pm emergency services responded to a call of multiple gunshots reported at the Vegieland shopping centre in Klippoortjie Park in Germiston.

When they arrived on scene two adults were found motionless on the floor of a Spar.

“Information on site states there was a robbery that took place and the suspects shot randomly and instantly killed the two adults alleged to be shoppers,” said William Ntladi, district manager media liaison for Ekurhuleni Emergency Services.

“The two were declared dead on scene and the scene was handed over to the police for further investigations.”

The tragedies only continued on the day with a four-vehicle crash on the R103 northbound near the Flanagan Road turn-off at 6.10pm. The crash resulted in the deaths of three adult males.

“Apparently, a VW GOLF had a mechanical breakdown and was being manually pushed by two of its passengers,” said Ntladi. “A Ford Fiesta came from behind and crashed into it, instantly killing the two and their driver.”

The driver of the Fiesta had a two-year-old toddler as his passenger and both had to be transported to Clinix Private Hospital in Vosloorus with serious injuries.

The third vehicle, a Toyota Conquest with four occupants, also impacted the other vehicles, but suffered only minor damages and the occupants escaped with minor injuries.

According to Ntladi, a minibus believed to be involved in the crash was not found on the scene, but no casualties were reported.

Minutes after the four-vehicle crash, two other light motor vehicles drove into each other about 400m from the previous accident.

A VW Polo and a VW Golf collided, resulting in the death of one female passenger and four people sustaining serious injuries.

“The four injured from both vehicles were medically treated on scene before transported to Sunshine Hospital,” said Ntladi.

According to Ntladi, Jaws of Life has to be used in both incidents to recover the deceased from the ruined vehicles.

Another person tragically lost his life in Primrose on Oak Street later that evening.

A biker around the age of 20 lost control of his bike and crashed.

“Primrose rescue crews responded promptly to the scene and on arrival they found a male biker lying lifelessly in the road,” Ntladi said. “Unfortunately, on assessment and treatment, the patient was declared dead on scene by paramedics.”

Ntladi states all three fatal crashes are being investigated by the officers from the City of Ekurhuleni.

A final disaster occurred at 8.26pm where a articulating truck was torched on R554 east bound near Rondebult Bird Sanctuary in Klippoortjie Park. Fire fighters from Alberton, Tokoza and Wadeville fire stations responded with four fire engines to intervene with the blaze. Two industrial pumpers and two water tankers assisted in extinguishing fire.

“Police had to be called as community members of Buhle Park came in numbers to help themselves to the groceries from the huge trailer,” says Ntladi. That hampered the smooth operations of the fire fighters. As per information received on scene, the truck was hijacked and torched after the driver was assaulted and left at the point of hijacking, which is alleged to have been around Roodekop industrial are,a Germiston.”

If you are involved in or see an accident please feel free to phone any of the following numbers and report the incident:

National Toll-Free Number: 10177

Cellphone Emergency Line: 112

Life-Threatening Ekurhuleni Emergency Line: 011 458 0911