Horror smash: Probe urged

2003-10-30 10:54

Laingsburg - The department of transport has called for a thorough investigation into the accident in the Karoo which claimed the lives of 21 people in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Twenty-one people were killed on the N1 when a bus and a truck were involved in a collision near Beaufort West. The accident happened about 13:00 about 7km outside Leeu-Gamka, between Beaufort West and Laingsburg. That strip of road is infamous as a "death run."

Twenty people died at the crash site. One bus passenger died in the Beaufort West Hospital.

Truck from Eastern Cape

A Bokwes Coach Services bus, carrying 33 people including the driver, and the a Roy Nel Transport truck left the road. The bus was en route from Queenstown to Cape Town, and the truck was from the Eastern Cape.

Leeu-Gamka police were investigating a case of culpable homicide.

A spokesperson for Transport Minister Dullah Omar, Ndivhuwo Mabaya, speaking from Pretoria said the Transport Ministry had consulted the provincial department of transport and other law enforcement agencies about a very thorough inquiry.

"We want to know the history of both the truck and the bus.... whether the bus was overloaded and when it was last checked for safety.

"We have also called on all provincial MECs of transport to ensure that every truck or bus or taxi is roadworthy.

"We have requested them to increase the number of traffic officers on the roads," Mabaya said.

He said that when vehicles were stopped and were found to be unroadworthy, they should be not allowed to proceed and should be removed from the road.

Western Cape transport MEC Tasneem Essop said her road safety committee was meeting on Thursday to review the situation, especially those involving accidents on the N1, to see what mechanisms could be put in place to prevent the horrific accidents.

"The silly season has started and we will look at very serious interventions on a full time basis," Essop said.

"My intention is to call the SA Road Safety Association and freight associations together to seek solutions to the problem."

"Unnecessary" accident

Essop said she was speechless about the "unnecessary" accident.

"The fact that there are children in both the deceased and injured list makes it harder to bear. Trying to comprehend this accident, news came in that four people died in Camps Bay and another 3 near Atlantis on the Cape West coast.

Both Essop and Mabaya conveyed their condolences to the family and friends of those who died in the accident.

The owner of Roy Nel Transport in Port Elizabeth expressed shock and said he was still "trying to piece things together... and it was one helluva shock for me," he said when he heard about the accident.

Nel said while details of the accident were sketchy he confirmed that the that the truck driver had been working for his company for a few years and had several years of driving experience.

- SAPA