Polokwane – Five people were killed – including four policemen – by a blast when a truck carrying explosives blew up in Limpopo on Thursday morning.
Another three policemen were taken to hospital, one of whom had his leg amputated.
Police spokeswoman Lieutenant-Colonel Ronel Otto, who was on the scene on the N1 near Mokopane, described it as “horrific”.
“Next to the road, the grass and trees are flattened for 100m. There’s a crater in the road. There’s shrapnel as far as 400m from the truck.”
Otto confirmed four police officers were killed by the blast.
The drive of a grocery truck was also killed. The grocery truck was believed to be travelling behind the truck carrying blasting cartridges at about 2am on Thursday. Both vehicles were headed north along the N1 when they collided.
Police arrived at the scene as the explosives truck caught fire and blew up. Vehicles nearby were peppered with shrapnel.
“As far as we know, the drivers did not sustain injuries,” said Otto.
