Johannesburg - Two police constables were killed and their bodies burnt beyond recognition when their marked vehicle caught fire after it was hit by a speeding BMW, whose driver was allegedly drunk.
The Mazda sedan was smashed from the back on Ontdekkers Road in Horison, Roodepoort, at about 1am on Tuesday and caught alight.
Constables Elias Dibete, 34, and Thulasizwe Skhahla, 38, died while their colleague Constable Lesiba Thubakgale, 34, was flung out of the vehicle.
He was airlifted to hospital in a serious condition.
The three constables were on a routine patrol when the accident occurred.
The driver of the BMW was arrested and faces charges of drunk driving and culpable homicide.
Roodepoort police station commander Brigadier Thandiswa Kupiso said they were shocked.
“The families of the deceased came to the station today (on Wednesday) to identify the constables, but they were burnt beyond recognition.”
National police commissioner Riah Phiyega visited the station and addressed the officers on duty on the morning of the accident, offering them encouragement.
She said the contribution of the members who had died would always be remembered.
She also visited the officers’ families to offer them the SAPS’s full support.
Gauteng police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said the driver of the BMW was supposed to appear in court on Wednesday.
But because the investigation was continuing, the 34-year-old would appear on Thursday on the drunk driving and culpable homicide charges.
The Star