ROCKY DRIFT – A South African safari adventure was cut short for a young woman from the Netherlands when a minibus taxi ploughed into the Selous African Safaris & Tours minibus she had been travelling in on the R40 at the Plaston turn-off on Thursday afternoon. She died in hospital three days after the accident.
Another accident occured at exactly the same spot early the following morning, which claimed the lives of 11 people (see story on here).
According to the Selous bus driver, Mr Lloyd Cronk, he had just picked up a new tour group at the airport and they were on their way to the Kruger National Park at about 13:00.
“I was waiting at the Plaston turn-off to turn right towards White River when I heard a loud crashing sound,” he explained.
A minibus taxi which had been travelling behind him collided with the trailer the Selous minibus had been towing. The impact pushed the bus across the road and into a barrier on the opposite side of the road.
The minibus taxi collided with a stationery Volkswagen Polo at the intersection. Cronk immediately got out of the vehicle and assisted the passengers in his minibus.
The young woman from the Netherlands was seated at the back and sustained serious head injuries. She was airlifted to Mediclinic Nelspruit.
Cronk was informed by his office that she died on Sunday afternoon. She was only 18. “Her parents flew in from the Netherlands on Saturday. “They are devastated,” he said.
Lowvelder enquired about the Netherlands citizen at Mediclinic, but her parents had instructed hospital spokesmen not to release any details to the media. Another 12 passengers from the Selous minibus were treated at Mediclinic that afternoon and four were discharged later that same day.
By Friday morning, another one had also been discharged and the other two were reported to be in a stable condition.
