Bus 'peeled like a sardine tin'
2007-12-22 09:12
Estcourt - The death toll in a collision between a bus and a lorry on the N3 near Estcourt in KwaZulu-Natal in the early hours of Saturday morning has risen to 10, the KwaZulu-Natal Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) said.
RTI Director John Snell the 10 people had been killed when their bus had ploughed into the second trailer of a lorry that had broken down on the N3 near the Estcourt North off-ramp.
KwaZulu-Natal provincial Emergency Medical Rescue Service said that another eight people were in a critical condition and another four were in a serious condition.
Another nine were reported to have suffered minor injuries.
'Miracle' that more not injured
Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said there were an estimated 70 people aboard the bus that was on its way to Mthatha in the Eastern Cape.
"It's a miracle that there were people who were not injured," he said.
Snell said the cause of the accident was not immediately known.
He said that the lorry had apparently pulled off the highway as a result of clutch problems.
He said that it was possible that the lorry's second trailer, which was carrying a container, was not totally inside the yellow line when it stopped.
He said the container "peeled the bus like a sardine tin" and those passengers on the left hand side of the bus bore the brunt of the impact.
Snell said it was too early to make any final statement on the cause of the accident, but that accident reconstruction teams were taking measurements which would aid investigations into the cause of the accident.
The South African Police Service also had an accident reconstruction team on site.
According to markings on the bus, it belonged to a Rustenburg based bus company.
N3 traffic being diverted
The southbound lanes on the N3 were closed and light traffic was being diverted along the R103 through the town of Estcourt.
Snell said heavy duty traffic was "being stacked" and being let through piecemeal.
Traffic along the N3 was expected to be backed up for several kilometres as Gauteng holidaymakers start their annual pilgrimage to the KwaZulu-Natal coast.
Snell said that shortly after 07:00 there were 2 000 cars an hour passing through the De Hoek Toll Plaza near Heidelberg on their way to KwaZulu-Natal.
Last year's festive season was marred when 12 people were killed and 34
were injured on Christmas Eve when an SA Roadlink bus overturned near
Pietermaritzburg and slammed into the pillars of a bridge that crossed
the N3 south-bound.
- SAPA