10 die in Western Cape road accidents
At least 10 people were killed in crashes on the province’s roads this weekend, seven of them in a head-on collision outside Riversdale.
|||Cape Town - At least 10 people were killed in crashes on the province’s roads this weekend, seven of them in a head-on collision on the N2 outside Riversdale on Friday night.
The crash occurred shortly before 7pm when a bakkie tried to overtake a truck, roughly 10km outside Riversdale, in the direction of Heidelberg.
Another three Capetonians died in three separate accidents over the weekend, bringing the death count in the province to at least 10 at the time of publication.
ER24 spokesman Russel Meiring said when paramedics arrived at the scene of the Riversdale crash, five men had already died as a result of their injuries.
Paramedics tried to give two more patients, who were in a critical condition, advanced life support and took them to Riversdale Hospital.
Meiring said: “Unfortunately, en route to hospital, one of the patients succumbed to his injuries.”
Western Cape traffic chief Kenny Africa said the death count in this accident had risen to seven. The deaths include three men travelling in the bakkie, and four occupants of a car: a father, a mother and two sons.
A witness described the crash to officials, saying the bakkie tried to overtake a truck when it crashed into the car.
“It is extremely worrying that people are take such chances when overtaking,” said Africa. “Drivers need to change their behaviour.”
Western Cape Minister of Transport and Public Works Donald Grant called the crash “tragic and unfortunate”. He said traffic officials would assist police in investigating the cause of the crash.
“Early investigations suggest that human error may have played a role.”
Cape Town traffic services spokeswoman Maxine Jordaan said a motorcyclist crashed and died in the early hours of Friday on Kommetjie Road after his motorcycle hit the curb.
On the same day at 7.20pm, a 30-year-old male passenger travelling in a small truck died when it crashed into another truck.
Africa said a third fatality happened when a pedestrian was struck by a car in Kenilworth.
Statistics released by the Road Traffic Management Corporation on Friday in Joburg showed that between April and last month 5 433 people died on South Africa’s roads. According to the Western Cape government, 852 people died in the province between January 1 and August 31.
Weekend Argus