UPDATE: Blue-light deaths

PHOTOGRAPHS of the mangled wreckage of a silver Toyota Yaris bear testament to the violence that ripped two Zululand families’s lives apart on Friday night.

Nonto Ximba (34) and Buyi Hadebe were traveling with three of their friends to Durban when their car was struck head-on by a double-cab bakkie, later confirmed to be a ‘blue-light’ escort vehicle for the KZN Premier, Senzo Mchunu.

According to statements issued by the Office of the Premier, he was not present at the time of the crash which occurred on the N2 between Zinkwazi and Stanger.

As Sunday morning dawned overcast and grey, both the Hadebe and Ximba families struggled to come to terms with the sudden loss and were visited by the Premier on Sunday afternoon, as he offered his condolences.

‘The remaining three passengers of the car were seriously injured, one of them critical,’ said Operations Manager for IPSS Medical Rescue, Paul Herbst.

‘They were taken to Stanger Hospital for further treatment.’

Herbst confirmed that two occupants from the blue-light bakkie were not seriously injured while sources from the scene confirmed the point of impact was inside the Durban-bound lane.

The accident sparked an outpouring of sympathy and concern from political parties and residents alike, all relating stories of near misses with ‘blue-light brigades’ and renewed calls for the use of the blue lights to be strictly regulated.

Police have confirmed that a case of culpable homicide is being investigated by KwaDukuza SAPS.