A pregnant woman was one of the passengers who was killed in the head on collision on the R555 (old Middelburg Road) earlier the week.
Another five people lost their lives on Monday, July 2 in the accident between a truck and a minibus taxi. Three people were declared dead on scene. Two other critically injured passengers passed away in Witbank Provincial Hospital and one passenger passed away in eMalahleni Private Hospital.
Members from various emergency services working together to save a life.
Estie Biela from ER24 attending to an injured passenger.
A bystander explained what happened.
“Allegedly the truck didn’t see a car stopping in front of him to turn onto a gravel road, in an attempt not to hit the car in front of him the truck driver hit the brakes, this lead the truck to swing into oncoming traffic and he bashed head on into an oncoming minibus taxi.”
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Tar carried by the truck was lying all over the place and also covered the entire minibus taxi.
One of the first persons on scene was Ms Maureen Scheepers, SACCW Operations Coordinator.
Members from emergency services trying to rescue stuck passengers.
“While we were waiting for the emergency services to arrive, I consoled a woman and she softly asked ‘My baby?’ I knew she meant that she was pregnant and when Legacy Emergency Services arrived on scene they attended to her first,” said Scheepers.
It was later confirmed that the mother and baby passed away due to excessive blood lost.
According to Scheepers there was approximately 10 people lying on the ground and another seven trapped in the minibus taxi.
ER24, Legacy, Langamed and the fire department worked extremely well together to get these people to hospital as soon as possible.
Not all the deceased were identified before going to print.
A critically injured passenger being attended too.
Henlu du Plessis and a fire-fighter trying to remove an injured passenger from the taxi.
This is just one of the many accidents that take place on the R555 on a weekly basis. Most accidents on this feared road happen because of people breaking the rules of the road by overtaking.
MEC Pat Ngomane calls for harsher sentences for those who break the law saying it is the only way to deal with those who don’t want to change their attitudes towards the rules of the road.
“Most of the crashes can be avoided if motorists can have a positive attitude immediately when they get behind the steering wheel. We can never win the fight against this scourge if road users expect the government to work alone while they continue to neglect the rules of the road,” concluded MEC Pat Ngomane.
