Night of terror on R575 kills 11 people near Middelburg

A horrific accident on Tuesday night in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, split a taxi in two and claimed many lives.

The head-on collision occurred shortly before 9pm on Tuesday when a truck and a taxi travelling in opposite directions on the R575 (Van Dyksdrift Road) collided.

A Middelburg Observer journalist who was on the scene said the taxi was split in two, and bodies were strewn everywhere.

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The magnitude of the accident required all available local emergency services to be called to the scene. Initial reports from the scene were that 14 people died.

The Mpumalanga department of community safety and security said on Wednesday that the official number of people that passed away is 11, of which seven are women, two are men, and two are children.

On Wednesday morning, the scene was still not cleared, causing huge traffic delays on the Van Dyksdrift road, with forensics and police still on the scene.

The accident scene was the cause of several other fender benders, as well as a more serious accident in which one person had to be transported to a hospital by an ambulance.

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