Death toll climbs to five in N1 North bus incident
56 people were left injured when a bus overturned on the N1 North outside Louis Trichardt on Wednesday afternoon.
POLOKWANE – The Department of Transport has confirmed that five people have died after a bus overturned on the N1 North outside Louis Trichardt on Wednesday (June 1).
Transport media liaison officer Mike Maringa said 56 other people were left injured after the driver, who was pulling a trailer, allegedly lost control of the vehicle and it overturned.
Read more: Four dead after bus overturns on the N1 North
The incident led to the closure of the road for several hours while emergency personnel rescued passengers trapped in the wreckage.
Maringa said this is the third major incident reported in the province in the last 10 days.
Last week, two seperate incidents claimed the lives of six people each on the N1 South and R529 respectively.
Read more: UPDATE: Six dead, nine injured in horror N1 south crash
The MEC for Transport and Community Safety, Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya said she is concerned about the carnage on the province’s roads and urged motorists to take extra caution.
“It is concerning that in less than ten days, we had three major accidents with 17 fatalities. I want to urge motorists, especially public transport operators to drive with caution and reduce speed,” she said.
