Cape Town – One Mitchells Plain girl is dead and another seriously injured after the moving truck they were hanging on to crushed both friends.
The girls were known to jump on trucks passing through the area around Freedom Park.
On Wednesday Vinita Louw, 12, and Nikita Jacobs, 13, chased after and hopped onto an empty construction lorry that was driving on Kilimanjaro Street around 4pm.
A witness, who asked not to be named, says: “Vinita was by the wheel and Nikita was hanging at the back of the truck. The vehicle came to a halt at the stop street on Kilimanjaro Street.
“And then the girls fell off. I don’t think the driver was aware of the girls because he reversed, crushing both of them.
“Vinita died on the scene after the big vehicle crushed her head.”
Nikita, who suffered organ damage and internal bleeding, was rushed to Lentegeur District Hospital.
Vinita’s mom Juanita Louw, 42, tells the Daily Voice she is struggling to come to terms with her daughter’s tragic death.
“When I went to the scene, I went to check her and told myself that is not my child lying there. I still can’t believe that she is gone,” she says.
“This is such a huge shock, maybe it will all sink in when I am alone at home.”
The mother of five says she was at work when she heard about the accident.
“I was at work when my niece came to tell me that my daughter had died after she was knocked over by a car.
“I asked a friend to come with me because I didn’t have the strength to be on my own then.’’
SAPS’ Captain FC van Wyk says the circumstances surrounding the death of a 12-year-old girl on the corner Paulsberg and Kilimanjaro streets in Tafelsig are under investigation by Mitchells Plain SAPS.
“According to reports, the two girls were hanging on a truck when they fell off. A culpable homicide case has been opened.’’
Anyone with any info of this incident can contact Mitchells Plain SAPS on 021 370 1600 or Crime Stop on 08600 10111.
Daily Voice