JOHANNESBURG - Five people died and several others were injured, some seriously, in three separate road accidents in the North West and Gauteng this weekend, paramedics said.
Three people were killed in a collision between two vehicles on the N4 old Pretoria road between Rustenburg and Moedwil in the North West on Friday night, ER24 spokesperson Ineke van Huyssteen said in a statement.
When ER24 paramedics arrived at the scene shortly after 7pm, they found two people in one vehicle who had sustained fatal injuries. The driver of the second vehicle also sustained fatal injuries. All three were declared dead at the scene by paramedics.
The exact circumstances surrounding the accident were not known to paramedics, Van Huyssteen said.
Earlier, one person was killed and four others were injured, one seriously, in a collision between a truck and a light motor vehicle on the R104 between Rustenburg and Buffelspoort in the North West on Friday afternoon, she said.
ER24 paramedics arrived at the scene shortly before 1pm, and found the driver and the passenger still inside the light motor vehicle. Unfortunately, the driver of the vehicle was showing no signs of life and was declared dead at the scene. The passenger sustained serious injuries and was treated at the scene before being transported to hospital for further medical care, she said.
The truck driver and two occupants of the truck sustained injuries ranging from minor to moderate. ER24, as well as another service, treated them at the scene before transporting them to hospital for further medical care.
The exact circumstances surrounding the accident were not known to paramedics, but local authorities were on the scene for further investigations, Van Huyssteen said.
In the third incident, one person was killed and eight others were injured, three seriously, when four vehicles crashed on the R24 in Tarlton, near Krugersdorp on the West Rand on Friday night.
ER24 paramedics arrived at the scene soon after 8.30pm and found multiple injured people at the scene. Upon further assessment, they found a man seated in the driver’s seat of one of the vehicles, showing no signs of life.
He was declared dead at the scene by paramedics. Three other people were found to have sustained serious injuries. Two of them were still trapped in the vehicle and the West Rand Fire Department had to extricate them using the jaws of life.
Two medical helicopters were activated to airlift two of the seriously injured patients to the hospital for further medical care. Five other people were found to have sustained injuries ranging from minor to moderate.
ER24, as well as various other medical services, treated the patients at the scene before transporting them to hospital for further medical care. The exact circumstances surrounding the accident were not known to paramedics, but police were investigating, Van Huyssteen said.
- African News Agency (ANA)