Johannesburg - A pedestrian has been killed and 28 other people have been injured, some of them critically, in two separate road accidents in Gauteng, paramedics said on Saturday.
A man, believed to be in his 30s, died after he was run over by a car on the R57 in Vanderbijlpark, south of Johannesburg on Friday night, ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring said.
ER24 paramedics arrived on the scene at 7.30pm to find the light motor vehicle in the left lane of the road. "The body of a man was found lying underneath the car," he said.
Medics assessed the man and found that he had already succumbed to his numerous injuries. Nothing could be done for him, and he was declared dead. The driver of the vehicle fortunately escaped injury. Local authorities were on the scene for further investigations, Meiring said.
In the second accident, 28 people were injured, six of them critically, when the light delivery vehicle they were travelling in veered out of control and overturned on the Golden Highway in Eldorado Park in the southwest of Johannesburg on Saturday afternoon, he said.
ER24 paramedics, along with several other emergency services, arrived on the scene at about noon to find the vehicle on its side in the right lane of the road.
"Numerous people were seen around the vehicle. It is understood a number of patients had been on the back of the vehicle when the vehicle overturned. Medics assessed the patients and found six to be in a critical condition while 22 others had sustained moderate to minor injuries."
Medics treated the injured people and provided the critically injured with advanced life support interventions. Once treated, one critically injured patient was airlifted by a private medical helicopter to a nearby hospital while the remaining patients were transported to hospital by ambulance.
The details surrounding the accident were not yet known, but local authorities were on the scene to investigate, Meiring said.
African News Agency (ANA)