Lucky escape for friends as tree crushes car in Tweni
‘It happened so quickly’ - Umtentweni mother recalls narrow escape.
Friends Heather Coetzer and Daleen Taute-Kotze are lucky to be alive after a tree crashed onto their car in the gale-force winds that battered the coast recently.
The incident happened at about 13:15 on Abingdon Road in Umtentweni after a large rotten tree uprooted and came crashing down, crushing the front section of Coetzer’s car.
“It happened so quickly. We are lucky to have walked away from this. It could have been much worse,” said Taute-Kotze, a mother of three girls, who was a passenger.
She added this incident could not have been avoided.
The tree came crashing down as they were driving under it. Taute-Kotze was trapped and could not get out, and Coetzer rushed to get help.
Taute-Kotze added that rotten trees are a major concern in the neighbourhood, and believes the municipality should be held accountable.
“We could have been killed.”
She urges the local municipality to address the issue of overgrown and rotten trees before someone is seriously injured or killed.
The spokesperson of Ray Nkonyeni Municipality, Nomusa Zulu, said Coetzer can submit a claim in the form of a letter of demand addressed to the municipal manager. Once the letter of demand and basic information is received, the claim will be handed to council’s insurers for consideration.
“Liability can only be determined after an investigation of the incident is conducted.”
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