Photo: SABC
Road carnage continues to be rife on South African roads. Early this morning 12 people died in an accident involving a truck and a small bus in Vereeneging, reports ER24.
Shortly after 3am this morning, ER24 Vaal paramedics were called to the scene of a horrific accident at the intersection of Houtkop and Boy Louw in Vereeniging.
A large truck and small transporter bus had collided head on, leaving both vehicles with extensive damage. Paramedics described the bus as being what appeared to be the sized of a Mercedes Sprinter having been crushed into the size of a Toyota Hiace, having come to rest in the road while the truck had jackknifed in the oncoming lane.
It appears that thirteen people had been in the bus at the time, while there was one occupant in the truck.
Ten of the occupants had died due to the nature of their injuries before medical personnel had arrived; three were still trapped in the wreckage, while one lay trapped underneath the vehicle. The remains of the other six deceased lay strewn across the scene, some having been flung as far as six or seven meters from where the wreckages of the vehicle stood.
Two people had sustained critical injuries, and paramedics immediately started resuscitation efforts on the one, but sadly nothing stabilised the patients condition and the accident had claimed an eleventh life. The second critically injured patient was rushed to a nearby hospital where they too deteriorated and died shortly after arrival in hospital.
Two people had come out of the accident alive; one of the occupants of the transporter bus and the driver of the truck. They were treated for moderate injuries and taken to hospital by ambulance for further care.
The cause of the accident is not know, although it is believed that both vehicles may have crossed over the intersection at the wrong time leading to the extensive impact of the head on collision.
The occupants of the small transported bus are believed to have been in the Vaal region on a day visit and were heading back to their home town today when the accident took place.
The local police authorities will be conducting the necessary investigations into the cause of the crash.
