Sanral probes N3 pedestrian bridge collapse

The South African National Road Agency (Sanral) said on Wednesday that its engineers and emergency services were at the scene where an overhead pedestrian bridge collapsed along the N3 highway in Germiston, Ekurhuleni.

Engineers were already trying to ascertain the cause of the bridge collapse, Sanral said.

“Sanral confirms that a bridge over the N3 collapsed in the early hours of the morning. The road between the Van Buuren Road and the M2 Geldenhuys interchange has been closed,” the road agency said.

“There were no fatalities. Three people were seriously injured – one person was airlifted and two were transported by ambulance.”

A female passenger was trapped inside a truck cab for about two hours while rescue teams battled to extricate her. The truck she had been travelling in crashed into debris from the collapsed bridge.

Earlier, Ekurhuleni’s Disaster and Emergency Management Services (DEMS) said several cars traveling along the N3 crashed as a result of the debris on the freeway. A woman was trapped in a truck. Rescue teams battled for about two hours to extricate her from the wreckage.

DEMS said it was alerted about the bridge collapse at 01:23.

“Bedfordview and Germiston Central Fire Station rescue teams swiftly responded,” DEMS said in a statement, adding: “On arrival, it was found that four vehicles – three trucks and a sedan – crashed onto the concrete bridge lying across both North and South bounds of the freeway.”

DEMS said rescue teams used the “Jaws of life” to rescue people trapped inside the truck cab. The driver and a seven-year-old girl were transported to Bertha Gxowa Hospital in Germiston. Three other people who were in the truck cab were also hurt.

“An adult female passenger was airlifted to Linmed Hospital in critical condition,” said DEMS.

The freeway remains closed to traffic in both directions.

“Motorist are advised to avoid using N3 freeway through Geldenhuys interchange as this will take time to clear up the debris. ”

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