Taxi headed to Harding leaves 16 dead in N3 crash
The department added that the 16 passengers were burnt beyond recognition.
Umuziwabantu Municipality said it was saddened to learn that the 16 people who were recently involved in a gruesome accident on the N3 in Pietermaritzburg were headed to its town, Harding.
In a statement, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport, Community Safety, and Liaison said preliminary reports on the accident which happened on Saturday, revealed that a truck had initially overturned on the N3, adding that while it was still waiting to be removed from the freeway and as other vehicles were trying to divert from the overturned truck, a Toyota Quantum minibus went under the truck causing a chain reaction, which resulted in a nine-car pile up.
The department added that the 16 passengers were burnt beyond recognition.
KZN Department of Transport spokesperson, Thuba Vilane, told Fever that although the taxi was travelling to Harding, commuters who were going to Harding were loaded into the taxi which was headed to Matatiele in the Eastern Cape since the taxi going to Umuziwabantu did not have enough passengers to leave Gauteng.
Vilane said the deceased included seven females and nine males who were all passengers in the taxi. He said a seven-year-old boy was the sole survivor in the taxi, adding that he survived after his mother who was trapped in the taxi was able to squeeze him through the window and handed him over to a Road Traffic Inspectorate officer who had been attending to the truck that had overturned.
Vilane added that the boy was rushed to Northdale Hospital in Pietermaritzburg.
Furthermore, he said there is still one deceased person who has not been identified.
MEC for KZN Transport, Community Safety, and Liaison, Peggy Nkonyeni said she is deeply saddened by the gruesome accident which claimed so many lives.
Following the accident, there was a storm of online speculation that the passengers involved in the accident were from the Gugwini area in Harding. However, the mayor of Umuziwabantu, Siboniso Zungu said although they do not have details of any of the deceased, knowing that they lost their lives while traveling to their town is painful enough for them to be saddened and share their pain with the deceased’s loved ones.
“My deepest condolences to the families of the victims. We also wish all those who sustained injuries a speedy recovery,” said Zungu.
Meanwhile, Vilane said they found out that four of the passengers are from Umzimkhulu which is near Harding.
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