Man loses both legs in Pretoria North plane crash
The 20-year-old is recovering in hospital after losing both his legs in the north of Pretoria.
Image: Pretoria North Rekord
An employee at the Moorddrift dairy farm, north of Pretoria, lost both his legs when a historic chartered aircraft plunged into their factory on Tuesday, Pretoria North Rekord reports.
Thabang Moloto, 20, was one of the 20 people who were injured when the historic chartered aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff.
READ MORE: UPDATE: Second person dies in hospital after crash
The crash has to date claimed two lives.
An eyewitness wrote of what he saw when he arrived at the scene and found the injured 20-year-old.
Somerset Morkel wrote on Facebook: “When I arrived there with some eight of our workers, I went in unhindered & found the young man on the ground with two ladies desperately trying to help him as he was in shock & kept trying to stand up on his amputated legs, screaming of pain.
“His upper left leg was broken too & he was bleeding profusely. I pushed him down on his back & tried to calm him. He kept fighting back & I called for someone to help restrain him.”
Earlier media reports suggested that Moloto had died, however, the dairy’s CEO Stephen Smith said he was alive and recovering in hospital.
“He is still alive. None of the workers affected by the crash have died,” he said.
“I spoke to the family, and I have been informed that he is in a stable condition.”
Smith said the company was in constant communication with affected families, and would continue to give them the necessary support.
The South African Civilian Aviation Authority said the aircraft was headed to Pilanesberg, in the North West, when it crashed.
In a statement, the authority said the aircraft had a certificate of airworthiness, which was due to expire on August 15 this year.
A preliminary report into what led to the crash will be released in 30 days.
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