Johannesburg - Jan Smuts Avenue near Zoo Lake on Thursday morning was the scene of yet another accident involving a Metrobus in the past four weeks.
Last month, a pregnant woman and a bus driver died after two Metrobus buses collided on the same stretch of road in Saxonwold during early-morning traffic.
On Thursday morning, five people were injured when a Metrobus vehicle, a minibus taxi and a Toyota Corolla collided. One of those injured was a woman who had also been involved in last month’s accident.
Still nursing back pain from the previous accident, the woman, naming herself only as Mel, said Thursday’s accident had left her rattled.
“I was sitting towards the back of the bus and I just heard a bang and my body tensed up. But I (then) took the coward’s way out and got out of the bus and fled. I walked the rest of the way to work,” she said.
The back part of the roof of the white Toyota was partially ripped off from the impact with the bus, its side crushed.
One witness said the Corolla had tried to overtake the bus and had been hit head-on by the minibus on the corner of Jan Smuts and Westwold Drive.
“The car spun out of control and then the bus hit it because it tried to stop. The car was just spinning and spinning in the middle of the road,” said the witness.
“This could have been a lot worse. The taxi was full and there were people walking on the street. Thank God no one was killed,” the witness said.
Another witness said the woman who was driving the Toyota was badly injured. “She was bleeding and in a lot of pain.”
ER24 spokesman Russel Meiring said the cause of the accident was unclear and confirmed to The Star that five people had been injured.
A family member of the woman who was injured in the Toyota arrived on the scene.
“I’m shocked. I can’t believe this happened. I use this car as well and there’s no fixing it. It’s too broken.”
The Star