Cape Town - “It was karma.”
So said a Mitchells Plain resident after a motorist first crashed into a stationary car, then drove off, before he was killed after smashing into a tree and two other vehicles.
Traffic came to a standstill following the horrific collision on Spine Road late on Sunday afternoon, which claimed the life of a 24-year-old man, identified as Lorenzo Petersen from Beacon Valley.
Petersen, driving a white Toyota Corolla on the wrong side of the road, smashed into a tree, a Mitsubishi Colt bakkie and a Toyota Tazz on the stretch between Eisleben and Merrydale roada near Portlands.
Seconds before he died, Petersen also rammed into a red VW Golf that was stuck on the corner of Spine Road and Merrydale Avenue.
The owner of the Golf, Verdun Henkeman, 36, from Athlone says he and a friend had just dropped his mother at her house and were on their way home when his car “just went off and wouldn’t start”.
“I called for help and while we waited, a mechanic who lives close by passed by and offered to help. The mechanic, his 11-year-old daughter and I were standing in front of the open bonnet when we heard a loud bang and we were flung into the road."
“The driver of the white Toyota Corolla drove into my car and reversed, then sped off without checking if we were OK. Just a few seconds later, we heard a loud bang and saw that he crashed into another vehicle.”
He says several other drivers had driven after Petersen to get him to stop.
A Rocklands resident, who was on the scene, within minutes said Petersen was found slumped half out the front passenger side window.
“Blood was gushing from his body like a tap. You could see he was driving at a speed because of the damage of the impact and a tree he uprooted before he crashed into the bakkie. The passenger was sitting in a daze just staring ahead as the deceased laid over him until the paramedics came,” said the witness, who asked not to be named.
Police spokesperson, Captain FC van Wyk, said the accident happened shortly after 4pm: “Allegedly the driver of the Toyota Corolla was driving from Tafelsig to Portlands when he drove into a red Golf. He then sped away from that accident scene,” he says.
“However, he then lost control of the vehicle and drove over a traffic island into oncoming traffic where he collided with a white Mitsubishi Colt bakkie and white Toyota Tazz. He died on the scene after the incident.”
Anyone with info about the incident is asked to
contact the investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Vuyaan Claasen, of Mitchells Plain Inquest investigation at 082 587 4369.