LIMPOPO – Eight people were killed in an early morning head-on collision on the N1 towards Musina.

The Department of Transport reports that a minibus taxi overtook unsafely on a barrier line and collided head-on with a light delivery vehicle at around 05:00 this morning (April 1).

Departmental spokesperson Tidimalo Chuene said five men and three women died while eight other people sustained injuries and were transported to nearby hospital for treatment.

“The road was temporarily closed for emergency services to attend to the scene,” Chuene said.

Transport and Community Safety MEC Florence Radzilani said the responsibility for road safety lies with all road users and made a clarion call for motorists to be responsible and arrive alive.

“We are heading to Easter long weekend which will see a heightened presence of motor vehicles on our roads as people will be traveling to different parts of the province to spend time with their families. While we anticipate this to be a period of joy and family reunions, experience has taught us that there are some among us, who are reckless on the roads. Driver behaviour, which includes reckless driving, overtaking at unsafe spots, over-speeding, overloading, and drunk driving, counts as the number one cause of road accidents and fatalities,” she said.