Three vehicles – a minibus, taxi and car – were involved in a collision on the Carletonville road, 10 km outside Potchefstroom at about 22:00 on Monday night. The accident left 23 people injured.
The elderly couple in the car were critically injured and the 21 occupants of the minibus and taxi sustained minor to moderate injuries.
According to one of the passengers from Ikageng, all that went through her mind when the accident happened was that she was going to die. ‘I closed my eyes tightly and then I heard a loud bang. Heart-breaking screams and crying followed. There was smoke all over; people were shaking and some had broken arms,’ she said.
She explained that the minibus and taxi were ferrying workers from Naschem to Potchefstroom. ‘We knocked off at about 22:15 and, on our way home, the car overtook a truck. A few moments later, the woman lost control of the vehicle and it was heading towards the oncoming traffic. That was when it hit the minibus carrying 22 passengers. After hitting the minibus, the car burst into flames. The taxi then hit the minibus from the rear.
‘The two drivers immediately ran out to rescue the elderly couple. They broke the doors and windows of the car. While they were busy, the firefighters arrived and extinguished the fire.
‘The old people were burnt very badly. They were trapped in the car but the emergency personnel freed them from the wreck,’ she said. The woman who suffered minor injuries says she still has flashbacks of the incident.
The ER24 spokesperson, Russel Meiring says the paramedics of several emergency services arrived on the scene at around 22:30 to find the three vehicles in the dark road. ‘The elderly couple received advanced life support interventions and the others were treated and transported to hospitals in the Potchefstroom area for further treatment. Local authorities were on the scene for further investigations,’ he said.
