9 dead as truck swerves to avoid bakkie and crashes into taxi unnamed 5

Nine people have been killed in a multiple vehicle collision between a bakkie, a truck and a minibus taxi on N1 highway at Kroonstad on Sunday afternoon.

The Free State’s department of police, roads and transport said in a statement that preliminary information indicated that the driver of a bakkie was driving in front of a truck on the N1 between Kroonstad and Vaal Plaza towards Johannesburg.

The motorist suddenly applied brakes. The truck driver also applied brakes and bumped into the bakkie in front and lost control.

The truck veered onto the opposite lane and collided with a 20-seater Iveco minibus travelling towards Kroonstad.

Nine passengers were declared deceased on the scene, the department said.

Two more were seriously injured and were airlifted to the nearest hospital. Thirteen other people survived the accident with minor injuries.

Werner Vermaak, ER24 spokesperson, said in a separate statement that several people were found on the road as some were ejected from the minibus during the collision.

Two people were found outside the minibus with fatal injuries while six others were found with fatal injuries inside the vehicle.

He said local authorities attended the scene and will conduct an investigation into the circumstances of the accident.

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