Death toll rises to six following flash floods (video and pictures)
Multiple motorists sustained minor injuries and were treated on the scene
Six people are reported to have died following the flash floods that hit Ekurhuleni and Joburg on Wednesday night.
Four people drowned while two others were killed in an accident that occurred during the floods, Gauteng Traffic Department Spokeswoman, Busaphi Nxumalo, confirmed to EXPRESS this morning.
Also see:
The N3 near Linksfield was a disaster zone after paramedics arrived at the scene at about 6pm to find over 150 cars stretching over two kilometres of highway had been affected, Emer-G-Med’s Max Cohen reported.
#N3LinksfieldFlood: During search & rescue operation a second drowning victim has been found. Raising the death toll to 2! pic.twitter.com/XaQDU0t1IC
— EMER-G-MED EMS (@EMER_G_MED) November 9, 2016
A four-year-old toddler is still missing in Alexandra following the flash floods.
Jukskei river flooding has caused road closure on the Woodmead/R55/Kyalami road... Crazy traffic jam #trafficbuzz #floods #roadclosure pic.twitter.com/x0GRZh2Meo
— Uyanda Sibiya Related Newsfeed 📰 (@UyandaM) November 10, 2016
Multiple motorists sustained minor injuries and were treated on the scene.
Traffic was brought to a standstill on the N3 and scores of photos on social media showed people standing on top of cars as roads turned into wild rivers.
“By 10.30pm Emer-G-Med paramedics were still on the scene, and Search and Rescue efforts were ongoing. The highway was slowly being cleared with cars being towed away. Big rig towing vehicles were also called to the scene to recover cars from the river below,” Cohen said.
By this morning, Traffic SA’s Rob Byrne reported that although the freeway had been opened again, traffic was still very slow.
What to do during a flash flood
In the meanwhile, Kempton’s own Pretoria Road has been damaged.
Reports came through early Thursday morning that sections of the road had been washed away in the floods.
Motorists had to find alternative routes after metro police blocked the road from the Elgin circle, causing heavy traffic all over Kempton.
The damaged road is near Beukes Road at Pampoenpaleis Nursery School.
• Floods in picture
Other areas that were flooded include OR Tambo Airport (where flights out of the airport were delayed), the R24 westbound, Rondebult and Northrand Road in Boksburg, Tom Jones Road in Benoni, N12 in Edenvale and the M1 by Athol Road. A wall at Johannesburg Zoo had also collapsed.
