Notorious accident hotspot in Rosslyn claims 15 lives with 42 injured
Akasia police spokesperson Constable Lindiwe Mabasa, who was at the scene, said the bus was on its way to Centurion, while the truck was travelling in a western direction towards Horingsnek Road.
Horrific scenes greeted Tshwane metro emergency workers responding to a crash at 05:05 on the M17 in Patryshoek, Rosslyn on Friday morning.
Tshwane metro police spokesperson Isaac Mahamba said the head-on collision between a bus and a truck claimed 15 lives and injured 42.
He said by 09:00 on Friday, the M17 between the N4 and K8 (Rosslyn Road) was still closed off due to emergency workers still being busy.
“Initial reports suggest that the bus was coming from Ga-Rankuwa when it collided head-on with a truck near the Bundu Inn,” said Mahamba.
ALSO READ: Driver, passenger die in horrific Pretoria west tunnel crash
When the emergency services arrived on the scene, six people were already dead later a further nine were declared dead with 42 injured.
Emergency services spokesperson Charles Mabaso earlier said paramedics were on the scene attending to patients.
“Emergency services are on the scene with multiple patients lying around and some still trapped inside both vehicles. Tshwane firefighters, Gauteng emergency medical services and private ambulance services started with the treatment and extrication of the injured.”
“Paramedics declared 15 people dead on the scene, while 42 were transported to Dr George Mukhari, Steve Biko and Kalafong hospitals.”
Mabaso said of the 15 dead, there were 10 females and five males, whereas 26 patients sustained minor to moderate injuries, four moderate to critical injuries and the balance critical injuries.
“The [road] closure is anticipated to last more than 5 hours.”
He said MMC for Community Safety and Emergency Services, Alderman Theunissen Grandi has sadly taken note of the fatal accident and wishes to send his sincerest condolences to the families of the deceased and a speedy recovery to the injured.
“As much as this is an accident, the MMC is pleading with all road users to always be cautious and drive with care and be patient with each other on the road.”
Mahamba said the accident scene was a high accident zone claiming many lives regularly.
“There are no lights in the area, it can be possible that the sight of the drivers could have been compromised. It could also be that one of them executed a dangerous manoeuvre trying to overtake traffic, we do not know what happened.”
“It can even be that the driver was in a hurry because of the rumours of a national shutdown, and wanted to drop off the passengers before being caught up in a strike, but we do not want to speculate and request anyone to come forward if they have any information about what could have caused the accident.”
Akasia police spokesperson Constable Lindiwe Mabasa, who was at the scene, said the bus was on its way to Centurion, while the truck was travelling in a western direction towards Horingsnek Road.
“We will investigate the matter further,” she said.
A police helicopter cordoned off the area and Mabasa urged motorists to drive carefully.
READ MORE: Woman killed and many left critical after taxi and van crash
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
