By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) is reeling following a massive pile up on the N3 near Pietermaritzburg that claimed 16 lives.
Transport authorities said the truck lost control on the major route in the early hours of the morning.
The truck is then believed to have collided with several other vehicles on the road before coming to a standstill.
KZN Transport and Community Safety spokesperson Kwanele Ncalane says a taxi is among the affected vehicles.
Ncalane added a 7-year-old boy was rescued by a traffic officer when one of the vehicles caught fire. At this stage, it is still very difficult to verify some of the details of the accident as some vehicles caught fire, and there is still a lot of work currently being done on the scene.
The road is still closed to traffic as forensic teams are on the scene to start their investigations.
“We are appealing to people to be patient when driving along that area. The KZN MEC for transport has also dispatched a team of senior officials to the scene of the accident to establish exactly what happened,” said Ncalane.
Fire engulfs taxi and passengers in horror crash into truck on N3, Pietermaritzburg https://t.co/JQQWslAjy0 #ArriveAlive @Netcare911_sa pic.twitter.com/q1ezFZBdan
— Arrive Alive (@_ArriveAlive) May 28, 2022
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison Peggy Nkonyeni said according to preliminary reports, a truck had initially overturned in the N3.
“As it was still waiting to be removed from the freeway and as vehicles were travelling 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,” said Nkonyeni.
She added it was believed that the Toyota Quantum minibus was traveling from Gauteng to Harding in southern KwaZulu-natal.
The seven females and nine males that were killed were all passengers in the minibus.
Nkonyeni has expressed her condolences to the families of the deceased.
“We are deeply saddened by this gruesome accident which has claimed so many lives. My heartfelt condolences to the families of all the victims. I also wish those who sustained injuries a speedy recovery,” said Nkonyeni.