Road 'full of dead bodies'

2008-11-13 09:21

Buks Viljoen

Johannesburg - A total of 23 people - 21 of them forestry workers - died after a Kentucky Fried Chicken delivery trucked collided with another truck near Bushbuckridge on Wednesday.

Eight people were seriously injured.

The accident happened just after 06:00, about 2km outside Bushbuckridge on the R40 heading towards Phalaborwa.

Initial investigations indicated that the driver of the KFC truck lost control of the vehicle while going around a bend, said police spokesperson Superintendent Abie Khoabane.

The impact of the crash was so severe that both trucks slid off the road and fell down a 20m embankment.

The driver of the KFC truck and his passenger died on the spot.

Emergency services had to cut open the wreckage of the KFC truck to remove the bodies.

Both drivers died

The driver of the other truck also died. His passenger, who was in the cabin when it rolled down the steep hill, sustained injuries.

A rescue worker said the road was full of injured people and dead bodies.

They had to carefully examine each body to determine who was still alive.

By lunchtime on Wednesday, members from the dog unit were helping police and other rescue workers find more people among the wreckage.

"Fortunately there were no further victims," said Khoabane on Wednesday.

The eight injured people, of whom a few were critical, were taken to the Mapulaneng hospital near Bushbuckridge.

Mpumalanga MEC for transport, Jackson Mthembu, visited the accident scene on Wednesday.

'Pain and sorrow'

"Our province feels pain and sorrow. It is terrible to think that 23 families tonight have lost their loved ones and breadwinners."

Mthembu and the executive mayor of the Ehlanzeni District Municipality visited the injured in hospital.

Mthembu has already put together a task team to determine the cause of the accident.

One of the biggest problems police were facing, was identifying the deceased.

Mthembu asked residents of Bushbuckridge to visit the detective branch in Bushbuckridge to speed up the identification process.

- Beeld