Malagwane accident an inconvenience for BUSHfiRE PATRONS
MBABANE – Recurring accidents delayed MTN Bushfire Festival patrons at along the MR3 Highway from Mbabane yesterday evening.
Over three accidents occurred between 4pm and 8pm, delaying the public and patrons who were going to the annual arts festival.
The first accident happened just before 4pm when a truck overturned while driving down the hill on the fast lane at Malagwane Hill.
The accident caused congestion that lasted for over six hours, resulting in more accidents happening as motorists bumped into each other. At about 9.30pm, police were still clearing the bales that fell from the truck while trying to attend to the minor accidents that were happening along the road. The accident happened just after Baha’i High School.
While more motorists bumped into each other in bumper-to-bumper traffic, which was caused by the first accident, another near-fatal accident happened just after the Mountain Inn at the tail end of the traffic.
A Quantum kombi ferrying patrons to the festival hit the rear of a truck. The quantum was one of those providing shuttle services from Mbabane to the Bushfire Festival.
The driver of the kombi suffered serious injuries on the face and upper body, while some of the passengers had minor injuries.
Another Kombi driver, who was seen helping the injured driver, confirmed that the driver had officially picked up the MTN Bushfire attendees from The Mall in Mbabane, which was the official park and ride station.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the driver said it was unfortunate that the accident happened while the country was experiencing a high number of tourists.
“The driver of the truck was in the wrong, and I hope the police will deal with the matter properly. First and foremost, trucks do not use the lane he was using. Had he used the proper lane, he could have passed the cooling station, and they would have told him not to drive down due to the accident at Bahai. Some of the people inside the shuttle are not from Eswatini, and this is a bad experience for them,” he said.
warned
Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the accidents and warned drivers to be cautious over the weekend. Vilakati said the weekend was not a normal weekend and the weather was not conducive; hence, there was a need for drivers to be extra careful.
“Though I cannot give you details of each accident, I can confirm that they happened. Just as we have been warning drivers before, we still request that they be extra careful as the weekend has more cars on the road. We are also aware that the roads are wet due to the light rains, so we are appealing for patience among drivers,” she said.
Vilakati further warned festival attendees to avoid driving under the influence of alcohol.