BRONKHORSTSPRUIT - Four people were killed and another was critically injured in a head-on collision between two cars, after which both caught alight, on the R25 near Bronkhorstspruit in Gauteng on Saturday afternoon, paramedics said.
ER24 paramedics, along with the provincial services, arrived on the scene shortly after 4pm to find one car in the emergency lane while another was found on the side of the road. Both vehicles had burst into flame and were well alight, ER24 spokesman Russel Meiring said on Sunday.
"Fire services began to fight the fire and extinguished the blaze in a few short minutes. Upon closer inspection, paramedics discovered three bodies in the one vehicle while another body was found in the second vehicle. Unfortunately, all four patients had already succumbed to their numerous burn wounds. Nothing could be done for them and they were declared dead."
Paramedics also found a woman, believed to be in her 40s, lying outside one of the cars. Assessments showed that the woman had sustained numerous injuries and was in a critical condition.
Paramedics treated the woman and provided her with advanced life support interventions before she was airlifted by the ER24 Oneplan Helicopter to Sunshine Hospital. The exact details surrounding the accident were not yet known, but local authorities were on the scene for further investigations, Meiring said.