1 killed, 18 injured in crash

News
One woman died and 18 others were injured, five of them seriously, in an horrific car crash along Hyde Park Road in Mpopoma yesterday afternoon after the commuter omnibus they were travelling in collided with another car.

One woman died and 18 others were injured, five of them seriously, in an horrific car crash along Hyde Park Road in Mpopoma yesterday afternoon after the commuter omnibus they were travelling in collided with another car.

Luyanduhlobo Makwati Own correspondent The woman, who was yet to be identified, was in the commuter omnibus, which plies the Magwegwe West route and collided with a Delta Beverages-owned Nissan NP 200.

Witnesses at the scene told Southern Eye that the accident occurred when the driver of the Delta vehicle, who was said to be travelling to their Bon Accord Depot along Khami Road, tried to beat a red traffic light.

Accident
The injured were rushed to Mpilo Hospital in four ambulances that had attended to the scene.

“The kombi driver tried to apply emergency brakes, but his vehicle collided with the Delta vehicle, before overturning and throwing some passengers out of the car,” a witness said.

While some of the passengers were thrown out of the vehicle, the deceased woman was trapped inside and witnesses say this could have led to her death.

Richard Moyo, the commuter omnibus conductor, alleged the driver of the smaller car unsuccessfully tried to beat the traffic light, leading to the accident.

“We were going to Magwegwe West and the kombi was full,” the flustered conductor said.

“There were 19 people in the vehicle. After the collision, the kombi rolled several times and I really do not know what happened next.”

A fire brigade crew managed to remove the woman from the wrecked commuter omnibus, while doctors and police officers attended to the injured.

The injured were rushed to Mpilo Hospital in four ambulances that had attended to the scene.

A fire brigade officer, who declined to be named for professional reasons, confirmed that they attended to the scene and one person had died.

“I can confirm that we dispatched two canisters to the scene and one person died,” he said.