MEDIA STATEMENT

FOUR PEOPLE KILLED IN BUS CRASH

KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Safety and Security Mr. Bheki Cele has called on all public transport and freight drivers and operators to make a conscious and concerted personal effort to put an end to the carnage on our roads.

Cele’s call comes after eight people were killed in barely three hours on the province’s roads today.

Four people were killed and scores of others injured in a bus crash at about 12h15 in Pietermaritzburg. According to initial reports, the driver of a bus belonging to Transnat Coach Lines in Newcastle, apparently hit into a bakkie that was travelling across the intersection at the corner of Blackburrow and Durban roads in the Pietermaritzburg CBD. The bakkie was then dragged underneath the bus until the bus came to a standstill after it overturned down an embankment. Four people (three females and one male) were killed instantly and 86 other people, including both drivers sustained serious to slight injuries and were admitted to hospitals in Pietermartizburg. Rescue workers battled for hours to free the injured from the mangled wrecks and the main road leading into Pietermartizburg was closed for several hours.

The SAPS are investigating four counts of culpable homicide as well as reckless and negligent driving. The bus has been impounded to undergo roadworthy tests by accident experts from the SAPS, Transport Department and independent experts from the Institute of Road Transport Engineers (IRTE).

Speaking from the scene, Cele said that in recent weeks it seems that trucks, buses and bakkies were the largest contributors in terms of vehicle type to road crashes. "I want to make an earnest and sincere appeal to all public transport and freight drivers and operators to change their attitude and to take road safety issues seriously. We cannot go on like this. Here we have yet another tragedy where innocent women who were on their way to provide for their families became victims’ of circumstances that were beyond their control. We will do everything possible to ensure that whoever is responsible for this crash is dealt with harshly," Cele said.

In other incidents, three people were killed in a road crash between a truck and a bakkie near Eshowe and a pedestrian was killed in Edendale near Pietermartizburg.

Cele has also expressed his codolences to the families of the deceased and wishes those injured a speedy recovery.

Meanwhile, Head of the KZN Transport Department Dr. Kwazi Mbanjwa together with other senior officials will visit the injured at St. Anne’s hospital in Pietermaritzburg at 15h00 tomorrow. All media are invited to attend.

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