Road Safety Archive

A tenth child has died after fighting for his life for two days in hospital following a train accident in which nine other children died, says the provincial government of the Western Cape.

“It is with great sadness that the Western Cape Department of Health announce that the tenth child has passed away today as a result of the minibus accident in Blackheath on Wednesday,” it said on Friday.

The department said medical staff at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital did everything they could to ensure the 9-year-old’s survival, but the injuries he had sustained to his head were “too severe”.

Post-mortems have been completed on the nine deceased at Tygerberg’s Forensic Pathology lab and three bodies have already been released to families for burial, it said.

Driver ‘improving’

A case of culpable homicide is being investigated after the minibus taxi carrying 14 schoolchildren was hit by a train when the taxi driver allegedly swerved past a boom and ignored warning signs at a level crossing in Blackheath.

Nine children died at the scene, while five were hospitalised after the Wednesday morning accident.

Two boys – aged 15 and 9 – were still in a stable condition at the Tygerberg Hospital, spokesperson for the department Darren Francis told News24 on Friday.

Another child – a girl – was also recovering at the Kuils River Hospital. On Thursday, the department said another survivor had been released from Tygerberg Hospital.

The driver of the taxi is “improving every day”, according to the private hospital where he is being treated.

- News24

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Six commuters including the driver have sustained serious injuries, while another commuter has sustained critical injuries after the taxi they were travelling in had mechanical problems and was not able to stop. The incident took place on KwaPata road in Edendale just outside Pietermaritzburg.

ER24 paramedics arrived on the scene and found the five patients lying in the road. About 200m from the patients, the taxi had been found smashed into a house, with two more patients.

One patient who is in a critical condition had sustained a partial amputation to his right leg and needed advanced life support intervention. The remaining six patients had sustained multiple fractures and abrasions. All patients were transported to various hospitals in the greater Pietermaritzburg for further medical care.

It is believed that the taxi started to have mechanical problems and the driver was unable to stop, causing the passengers to panic and jump from the moving vehicle.

All the necessary authorities were on the scene and would be investigating the incident further.

Derrick Banks
ER24

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Netcare 911 paramedics received a call for an accident on the R 21 south about 5 kilometres before the airport at 20h50 this evening. It is purported that the driver of an Opel lost control of his car and smashed sideways into a lamp pole on the centre median.

When the medics and the fire services arrived they found the mangled remains of the car wrapped around the light pole with the driver still trapped in the twisted metal. After examining the critically wounded man it was established that he had tragically passed away before our arrival due to the extensive injuries that he sustained.

Metro police arrived on scene and will be conducting an investigation to establish the cause of this horrific accident.

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Fourteen Egyptians were killed on Wednesday when a truck lost one of its wheels and careened into a microbus full of passengers, a police official said.

Five others were injured.

The truck driver lost control of the steering wheel when a tire burst on highway connecting Cairo and Alexandria.

Poor road maintenance and lax traffic regulations cause frequent road accidents in Egypt.

- AFP

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Western Cape Transport MEC Robin Carlisle on Wednesday called for an intense clampdown on reckless driving following a collision between a minibus taxi and train in Blackheath which left nine children dead.

Carlisle said all evidence indicated that the driver disregarded warning lights before navigating his way past closed booms.

“He came down the wrong lane past the lane of traffic, then wanted to zig-zag across and go down the wrong lane in the opposite direction… He mistimed or his engine may have cut out,” Carlisle added.

Eight of the children were killed on impact, while another has since died in hospital.

Meanwhile, Western Cape Health MEC Theuns Botha and Education MEC Donald Grant visited survivors in hospital.

Both have described the tragedy as an incident that could have been avoided.

They visited four of the patients at Tygerberg Hospital.

One of the children suffered a serious pelvis injury.

According to health officials a brother and sister were involved in the accident. It is understood the girl was one of the deceased.

(Edited by Lisa Bartlett)

[Story appeared on Eyewitness News]

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British pop singer George Michael pleaded guilty in a London court on Tuesday to driving under the influence of cannabis when he crashed his car into a shop last month, and could face jail.

The 47-year-old Careless Whisper star also admitted possessing cannabis cigarettes when he appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court.

Dressed in a black suit over a black jumper, he was greeted by a scrum of photographers as he arrived for the appearance.

In court, he spoke only to give his plea and confirm his real name of Georgios Panayiotou.

District Judge Robin McPhee gave the singer an interim six-month driving ban, and said he would be sentenced on September 14 after the court considers his case. He will remain on bail until that date.

Extremely poor

“I make it clear the options in respect of sentence remain open, including the power to imprison,” the judge told him.

“It is a serious matter. Your driving was extremely poor and there was an accident. There is also a conviction from three years ago.”

In the latest incident, he was arrested after his Range Rover car crashed into a photography shop in north London in the early hours of Sunday, July 4.

The court heard Tuesday how police found him slumped at the wheel with the engine still running. Officers roused him and said he appeared “spaced out”.

In June 2007, Michael was given a two-year driving ban after pleading guilty to driving while unfit. On that occasion, he claimed he was tired and had been taking prescription drugs.

The singer, who first found fame in 1980s pop group Wham!, has fought a long battle with drugs.

- AFP

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A man is in a serious but stable condition after jumping off a runaway road grader this morning in the Randburg area. It is believed that the man lost control of the grader smashed into the side of a bakkie then hurtled through and open field before coming to rest in a river.

When medics arrived on scene they found that the driver of the grader allegedly jumped out and landed under one of the wheels. He had sustained serious injuries and after he was stabilised and deftly immobilised on a trauma board, they transported him to a local private hospital for the treatment that he required.

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A truck carrying fire-fighters overturned, injuring 20 of them, at the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, near Heidelberg, on Tuesday afternoon, police said.

“They all sustained serious injuries,” said Warrant Officer Happy Nape, adding that most of them were taken to nearby hospitals by ambulance.

“Two of them had to be taken to hospital in helicopters,” said Constable Wilberforce Nthekele.

They were taken to Milpark hospital, in Johannesburg, and the Union hospital, in Alberton.

Nape said the truck was on its way back from putting out fire at the time of the accident at 16:30.

The cause of the fire was not known.

“The driver said he lost the brakes and it turned over going down a hill,” he said.

The Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve could not be reached for comment.

- SAPA

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A fiery road crash outside Nigeria’s commercial capital of Lagos burnt at least 15 people to death and injured 18 others, a senior state official said on Monday.

“We have 15 burnt bodies and 18 injured people. Around 20 vehicles were involved, but only 10 were burnt. The others had some dents,” Lagos special adviser on transportation Kayode Opeifa said.

He said the accident on the Lagos-Ibadan express road on Sunday was caused by a truck carrying sugar following a brake failure.

He could not confirm local media reports that the truck was being pulled over by a police checkpoint, which are often mounted by officers seeking to collect bribes. Police also could not confirm the reports.

Opeifa said there was an inferno after the other vehicles rammed into the truck, consuming 10 other vehicles and the victims in the process.

Mini-buses used for public transport capable of carrying around 20 passengers were also involved in the accident, though it was unclear how many.

Local media said between 20 and 40 people died in the crash, but Opeifa said the figure was exaggerated and that a number of people managed to escape the carnage.

“There were many lucky people who survived by jumping out of their vehicles to safety,” he said, but added that the death toll could rise because of the extent of injuries.

Huge traffic jams

“Some of those in the hospitals had severe burns and they may succumb to their injuries,” he said.

Accidents are common on Nigeria’s poorly-maintained road networks.

Highways in and around Lagos, which rivals Cairo as Africa’s biggest city with a population of some 15 million, are especially chaotic.

Huge traffic jams result in hours-long journeys and large numbers of vendors walk between vehicles to sell everything from CDs to kitchen supplies.

The road where the accident occurred is often busy on Sundays due to a large number of evangelical mega-churches in the area.

More than 17 000 people died in about 31 000 road accidents across Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, between 2007 and 2009, according to the state-run road safety agency.

The agency said more than 73 000 were injured in these accidents during the period.

- AFP

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The Cape Town Traffic Department on Wednesday said drag racing remained a problem despite numerous successful operations.

Five people were arrested for reckless and negligent driving in Belville, Athlone and Ottery in the last week.

More than 300 speeding fines were issued, 80 traffic-related offences were recorded and 13 vehicles were suspended for mechanical defects.

Traffic spokesperson Merle Lourens said drag racing is always a problem.

“It goes from one area in the city to another but we will be having further operations to stop it during weekdays as well as weekends.”

(Story by Chanel September, Edited by Lisa Bartlett appeared on Eyewitness News)

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