DURBAN – Firefighters had to use the jaws-of-life to free a cyclist who had become pinned under a truck that overturned on him at a busy intersection in Durban on Monday morning.
Emergency services were called to the intersection of Bayhead Road and South Coast Road at around 5.30am on Monday.
It took rescuers more than an hour to free the man.
It is alleged that the cyclist screamed until the driver heard him and notified authorities. He was pinned between a concrete bridge pillar, steel road barriers and the pavement
Ceron Lennox, spokesperson for Rescue Care Paramedics said it appeared that the truck had somehow overturned whilst taking the corner.
"There was a cyclist on the sidewalk which the load then landed on. The man was pinned under the load which was wooden pallets. Advanced life Support Paramedics worked to stabilise the man whilst Durban Fire Department and SAPS Search and Rescue worked to free the man. This took approximately one hour to free the load off the man. Once freed the man was transported in a stable condition to a nearby hospital for the further care that he required," Lennox said.
It was unknown what caused the truck to overturn but police were at the scene investigating.