A well-known businessman and religious academic from Louis Trichardt was identified as the deceased driver of a BMW that was involved in yesterday’s collision in the Kranspoort Pass on the N11 near Middelburg.

According to the Zoutpansberger newspaper, Abubakr Akoo (41) was travelling from Louis Trichardt to visit his father in Newcastle, when a Zambian truck carrying sulphuric acid lost control in its descent of the notorious pass before ploughing into Akoo’s BMW.

The truck dragged the BMW for nearly 150 metres against the concrete barriers.

The collision occurred with such great force that the truck’s differential and suspension were torn away from the truck’s undercarriage.

According to an article published by the Zoutpansberger, Akoo was the owner of several business interests, including the Build It franchise in Louis Trichardt.

He was married to Fatimah Akoo and leaves behind three children aged between seven and 12. He is also survived by his parents, Hafiz Aslam and Asiya Akoo.

The newspaper further wrote that Akoo was a religious academic, known for having memorised the Quran, which he could recite from memory.

The passenger travelling with Akoo has not yet been identified and his condition remains unknown.

• The Kranspoort Pass was closed most of yesterday due to the collision, where petrol and sulphur spills needed to be attended to.

Yesterday’s accident followed shortly after two others, a collision last Saturday morning that left the truck driver trapped for hours, as well as another on Tuesday, in which the truck driver succumbed to his injuries and an old sulphur spill caught fire.

• Community stakeholders have continuously liaised with SANRAL and will be meeting on Wednesday to conduct an inspection in loco with the hopes of a compulsory stop being implemented at the top of the pass.

Community members have fought an almost three-year-long battle with SANRAL over the high volume of accidents, particularly truck accidents that continue to occur on the deadly route.