“It could have been us,” says man who filmed horror crash
A Pinetown couple who were at the intersection when the runaway truck flew through the intersection say they are lucky to be alive.
FORTY-YEAR-OLD Jan van Zyl and his wife Carika believe they have been given a second chance in life after they narrowly escaped death when a runaway truck ploughed through four taxis and a car at the bottom of Field’s Hill on Thursday evening.
Due to the nature of his work at Rock Solid Industries, Van Zyl has a camera installed in his car which captured the runaway truck fly through the intersection, smashing into vehicles which had just pulled off as the robot turned green. Van Zyl and his wife had pulled up behind the first row of vehicles at the robot and watched in horror as the taxis and car were swept away in front of them as the truck flew through the intersection.
“I had picked up my wife from work and we decided to get take-away for dinner. We were on our way to Kloof when the incident took place,” explained Van Zyl. “The scary thing was that I was planning on overtaking the blue Jetta before we reached the robots but decided against it,” he said.
According to Carika it took them a few seconds after the truck went hurtling through the intersection to realise what had just happened. “My husband immediately put his hazard lights on and climbed out the car to make sure nobody was underneath it. Then the hooting started as the cars behind us hadn’t seen what had happened and were wondering why no one was moving,” she said, reliving the shocking experience.
The couple said they feel very lucky to be alive and have a new perspective on life. “It is still shocking to think it could have been us. Those poor families who were waiting for their loved ones to arrive home, but never will. I am truly sorry,” said Van Zyl.
