ADVERTISEMENT:

 

 
 

On Tuesday morning, the carnage on the N1 north continued. One passenger, travelling towards Louis Trichardt in a City-to-City bus, was killed on impact.

Carnage on the roads

Date: 10 April 2015 By: Isabel Venter

Any hope that the usual carnage on the region’s roads over the past week could be avoided as thousands of motorists embarked on their return journey after celebrating this year’s Easter weekend proved futile.

As traffic volumes increased dramatically, Monday saw a string of accidents occurring within hours of each other. By some kind of miracle, no fatalities were reported on Monday, but several people sustained serious injuries. On Tuesday, however, one person did pass away after a bus accident.

The weekend started off with a false accident report, and as the weekend progressed, there were some minor accidents. On Friday, reports came in of four accidents, two near the Lalapanzi Hotel on the N1 north, and two near Bandelierkop. Nobody was seriously injured in these incidents. 

On Saturday and Sunday, no further accidents were reported as most travellers had reached their destinations and congestion on the region’s roads eased.

Alas, Monday dawned, bringing with it some rain, low clouds and mist. These misty conditions on the N1 north soon caused one accident after the other. According to rescue workers who attended to the accidents, motorists' speeding despite poor driving conditions might have contributed to many of the accidents.

The first accident, near Bandelierkop, left nine people seriously injured after a mini-bus taxi attempted to make a U-turn on the national road.

Shortly after this accident, two more occurred near the Witvlag turn-off along the N1 north. In the first accident, two vehicles driving in opposite directions crashed into each other after both the drivers apparently lost control on the slippery road. Three children were seriously injured, while three adults escaped with less serious injuries. 

Scarcely had the road been cleared of the crash debris, when another accident occurred near the Mountain Inn Hotel. The driver of a petrol truck also lost control of his vehicle in the wet conditions and it spun out of control. In the process, oil was spilled on the road, making the N1 even more slippery, thereby causing the drivers of another truck and four other vehicles to lose control, almost causing a massive pile-up. The flow of traffic was held up for about an hour while the truck was cleared from the road. Fortunately nobody was injured here too. 

Two more minor accidents were reported after this, one near Madombidza and one near Vleyfontein. In both incidents the drivers fled the scene. 

Early on Tuesday morning, a City-to-City bus travelling to Louis Trichardt on the N1 crashed into the mountain after the driver lost control in the thick fog. One passenger was killed on impact. All the other passengers were taken to the Louis Trichardt Memorial Hospital where they were treated for minor to serious cuts and bruises.

On Wednesday morning, a driver travelling towards Thohoyandou on the Levubu road crashed into a young kudu. The impact of the crash caused the driver's vehicle to veer off the road, where it overturned and landed in the bushes. The driver was not seriously injured in the incident, but the kudu was killed on impact.

In the meantime, the Limpopo Department for Roads and Transport confirmed that 35 people had perished on the province's roads over the Easter weekend. One of the more serious accidents, along the N1 south between Mookgophong and Modimolle, claimed the lives of 13 people when a taxi and bakkie collided.

 
 
 

Viewed: 8794

 

 
 

Isabel Venter

Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.

 
 

More photos... 

The driver of this car escaped with minor cuts and bruises, after he had collided with a young kudu and his vehicle veered off the road. The driver was travelling towards Thohoyandou on Wednesday morning when the incident occurred.

On Monday morning, rescue workers attended to an accident scene along the N1 north, near the Witvlag road, where two vehicles crashed into each other. Three children were rushed to the Louis Trichardt Memorial Hospital, while another two adults were treated on the scene.

On Monday morning, rescue workers attended to an accident scene along the N1 north, near the Witvlag road, where two vehicles crashed into each other. Three children were rushed to the Louis Trichardt Memorial Hospital.

Wet weather on Monday caused the one accident after the other. This petrol tanker was one of several vehicles involved in an accident when the driver lost control, crashing into another petrol tanker, which spilled some oil on the N1 north near the Mountain Inn Hotel. Traffic was held up while the road was cleared.

ADVERTISEMENT

 
 

ADVERTISEMENT:

 
 

ADVERTISEMENT