26 people were killed in two separate accidents on the N3 freeway this weekend. This as another mass casualty accident, involving an APM bus, claimed 10 lives on N3 north at Dasville just before De Hoek toll plaza on Sunday morning.
According to RTMC, the APM bus crashed into a pillar and plunged off a bridge on the same freeway landing on its roof on the road below.
Six people died on the scene, with 60 others injured. The death toll has since risen to ten after four of the injured people succumbed to their injuries.
ER24, provincial fire and emergency medical services as well as other emergency services arrived on the scene to find the long-distance bus on its roof on the side of the road.
A number of passengers had already climbed out of the crushed bus and were seated near the vehicle, while several others were trapped in the wreckage.
Further medical resources were called to the scene, including medical helicopters, to help assess, treat and transport people to medical facilities.
On Saturday, 16 people died in another deadly road accident on the N3 freeway near Pietermaritzburg.
A truck driver lost control of his vehicle when the wheels on the right side of the truck apparently came off, resulting in the vehicle overturning onto the centre embankment.
A Toyota Quantum minibus taxi then crashed into the truck and caught fire trapping all 17 people on board.
One person from the seventeen, a 7-year-old boy, survived the crash after her mom squeezed him out through the window before she was burned to death.
Other vehicles then came and collided into the burning vehicles. A total of four vehicles were destroyed in the inferno.
The accident resulted in a deadly 10-vehicle pile-up.
Traffic was hugely affected by the Pietermaritzburg crash as the road was closed for about 18 hours as emergency personnel worked on the scene.
