Two people lost their lives and 13 were injured, some seriously, in an accident on the old Plaston Road (R538) near White River today, August 29.
According to Martin Jeffrey of Emer-G-Med, they received a call at about 06:45 regarding a minibus taxi that had rolled multiple times.
He said the eyewitnesses on the scene said the minibus taxi had been travelling from Plaston towards White River when the driver lost control of it near Noma Nini Lodge and it rolled multiple times, flinging some of the passengers out of the windows before it came to a halt.
“The minibus taxi had 15 passengers, including the driver. However, we declared two people dead on the scene; one was critically injured; four sustained moderate injuries, while the rest sustained slight injuries. All patients were rushed to Themba and Rob Ferreira Hospital,” said Jeffrey.
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The Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison’s spokesperson, Moeti Mmusi, said the frequent accidents of minibus taxis, especially in the morning, are a major concern, as most of them seem to be caused by human error.
“We are once again pleading with the taxi operators to cease speeding and ignoring the rules of the road, while they are ferrying a large number of passengers. We cannot afford to keep on losing lives due to accidents that could have been avoided if the driver had obeyed the rules of the road,” he said.
He also sent his condolences to the deceased’s families and wished the injured a speedy recovery, and said an investigation into the circumstances of the accident is under way.
At the time of publishing, the road was still closed.
