A crash off the Pakhuis Pass has left nine people dead.
|||Seven members of a Clanwilliam family were among nine people killed in a horrific accident when a bakkie transporting 21 passengers veered off the Pakhuis Pass.
“I was so shocked because I’ve never seen anything like that before. The bodies were all out of the bakkie. Only two people were still in the bakkie,” said Jan van Rooi, one of the first family members at the scene.
EMS spokeswoman Keri Davids said, when paramedics arrived at 2.45pm on Wednesday, eight people, including the driver, a two-year-old and an 11-year-old, were declared dead at the scene. “One man died in the ambulance. The remaining passengers suffered fractures, cuts and spinal and head injuries. All were taken to a nearby hospital in Clanwilliam. It is believed that the driver lost control as the road is very steep.”
Davids said the group were on their way to Blomfontein Farm in Clanwilliam when the accident occurred.
Police spokesman Andre Traut confirmed the incident, but could not give any additional information as the accident was still under investigation.
A doctor at Clanwilliam Hospital, who asked not to be named, said seven patients were being treated at the hospital and more serious cases had been transferred to hospitals in Paarl and Tygerberg yesterday.
“The patients were brought in at about 4pm on Wednesday as I believe there was difficulty getting to the bakkie that swerved off the road. So far everyone is in a stable condition.”
Van Rooi said the group were on their way home after collecting their pensions in Clanwilliam. “My cousin said the driver was having problems with the trailer. She said people were arguing with him and telling him to stop.
“My family was asking me for water so I ran back to the farm, but when I came back one aunt who had still been breathing had already died. So many of my family died, my two aunts, two of my cousins and their children.” A mass funeral was expected to take place next week. - Cape Times
E-mail Barbara: barbara.maregele@inl.co.za