Five killed and two injured in horrific crash near Ladysmith

Five people lost their lives in a car accident on Sunday on the N3 near Ladysmith while two others were injured.

Emergency services provider IPSS Medical Rescue arrived at the scene and said “paramedics were met with a horrific scene”. It said two cars had crashed at high speed.

“Sadly, it was established that the single occupant of one vehicle was deceased. When assessing those in the second vehicle it was discovered that a child had sustained critical injuries and an adult had sustained moderate injuries. The patients were stabilised on scene and transported to nearby facilities for further care by another service. Sadly, four other occupants of the second vehicle were declared deceased,” said IPSS Medical Rescue.

Collision between bakkie, car and minibus

Meanwhile, a fatal crash on the N6 about 30km outside Bloemfontein, Free State, left one person dead and seven others injured.

The collision between a bakkie, car and minibus occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning close to Tierppoortdam.

The road remained closed for several hours while emergency personnel attended to the scene.

Meanwhile, nine people were killed in two separate crashes in Mpumalanga on Saturday morning.

According to Arrive Alive, the first crash occurred on the N4 near Vosman.

The head-on collision between a sedan and SUV claimed three lives – two males and a female, all of whom were certified dead on the scene.

Another crash on the R38 between Barberton and Manzana resulted in six fatalities.

ALSO READ: A deadly start to long weekend as 20 people die in separate road crashes

719 and counting

Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga revealed on Friday that South Africa had recorded 719 road fatalities since the start of December.

Chikunga expressed concerned at the possible spike in road crashes over the long weekend as was the case in the past.

“During the previous long weekend, we saw a lot of people dying… that is why we are extremely concerned that if we do nothing as road users, many people may still die on the roads,” she said.

ALSO READ: ‘We are not cursed’ – Chikunga says ‘avoidable’ human behaviour causes most road crashes

Additional reporting by Vukosi Maluleke and Molefe Seeletsa