Durban: A 7-year-old boy, the sole survivor of a horror crash in Pietermaritzburg which claimed 16 lives including his mother’s, has been discharged from hospital.
IOL has been reliably told that the boy was released on Monday.
The accident involving multiple vehicles took place on the N3 between Peter Brown and Sanctuary Road.
The Department of Transport said according to preliminary reports a truck had initially overturned on the N3.
“As it was still awaiting to be removed from the freeway and as vehicles were travelling trying to divert from the overturned truck, a Toyota Quantum minibus went under the truck causing a chain reaction, which resulted in a nine car pile up.”
The Department said the minibus had 17 occupants which was entrapped and caught alight with 16 passengers being burnt beyond recognition.
“A seven year old boy in the minibus survived after his mother who was trapped in the minibus, was able to squeeze him through the window and handed him over to an Road Traffic Inspectorate officer who had been attending to the truck that had overturned.”
It is believed that the Toyota Quantum minibus was travelling from Gauteng to Harding on the southern KwaZulu-Natal. Among the deceased were seven female and nine male passengers in the minibus.
IOL