Durban - Three people were killed in a collision after a lorry ripped up almost 500 metres of a crash barrier on the N3 near Hammarsdale on Saturday morning.
KwaZulu-Natal Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) spokeswoman Zinhle Mngomezulu said that after the lorry, which was heading towards Durban, had ripped up the crash barrier it went across the centre median into the north-bound traffic where it collided with a Mercedes Benz.
“He must have had quite some momentum to rip it up,” she said.
The accident took place in the early hours of the morning, around 4.30.
Robert McKenzie, the spokesman for the provincial Emergency Medical Service, said the three occupants of the Mercedes Benz were declared dead at the accident scene, while a fourth person was taken to hospital.
Mngomezulu said the lorry driver fled the accident scene.
RTI officials had to close the N3 in both directions and traffic was being diverted along an alternate route.
By 10am the northbound lanes in the direction of Pietermaritzburg had been opened, but the southbound lanes in the direction of Durban were still closed as authorities battled to clear the scene.
ANA