Pretoria - Police are still hunting for the driver of the “hit-and-run” BMW that mowed down six adults and three children in Salvokop, near Freedom Park in Pretoria, in early January.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo said police were looking for the Zimbabwean national believed to be behind the incident that left three children dead and six adults injured.
The incident occurred between 4.30pm and 5pm on January 7, near a traffic circle on 6th and Koch streets in Salvokop.
Several people were left scattered around the crashed vehicle and the collapsed tree, after the speeding vehicle went out of control and ploughed into the residents.
Female patients with moderate to serious injuries were transported to Steve Biko Hospital, including a woman who was nine months’ pregnant.
The driver of the BMW sedan fled the scene of the crash and is still wanted by the police.
Masondo said the search for the man was continuing and, once arrested, he would be charged with culpable homicide.
Community members from the area said that from what they understood the man had taken his brother’s car from a car wash, and was attempting to show off his driving skills in the car by spinning it.
This, however, resulted in the car going out of control and ploughing into the bystanders before crashing into a tree, leaving death and grief in its wake.
Callisto Taruvinga, the brother of the father of twin girls who died, Muneiwa and Munei Khomola, said the family were still battling with the death of the children.
Taruvinga said it was so difficult for the twins’ parents to constantly go past the spot where their children were mowed down that they had even opted to move home.
“We are trying, but from the burial I didn’t allow them to return to that place, as seeing that scene would not be good for them.
“I took them to stay with me at my flat instead.
“We managed to bury the children, but it was really tough for them to come to terms with losing not one but both of their children,” he said.
Pretoria News