‘Deadly road’ claims three
A HORRIFIC accident on the notorious Midlands Road, Roodepan, claimed three lives over the weekend.
Two women and a man, who are yet to be identified, died as a result of the accident, which took place at a “deadly” turn on the road on Friday evening at around 7pm.
While police have indicated that the exact cause of the accident is not yet known, it is believed that a white Volkswagen Golf, carrying four people, was travelling from Roodepan and took a sharp turn on Midlands Road at a high speed and swerved into the oncoming lane and a grey Volkswagen Touareg crashed into it.
The bodies of the two women, who were killed in the crash, were found in the veld, while two men were cut from the Golf’s mangled wreck and taken to hospital, where one of them, who had sustained massive head trauma, later died.
The driver of the Touareg, who is believed to be have been alone in the car at the time of the accident, did not sustain any injuries and was seen giving a statement to police on the scene.
While he was too shocked to speak to the media, he did indicate that he was en route to Roodepan when the Golf swerved in front of him and his vehicle crashed into the side of the Golf.
On the scene, the almost unidentifiable wreck of the Golf lay next to the road while the Touareg, which had damage to its front, stood in the yellow line. A body, covered with a space blanket, could be seen from the road, while it is believed that the another body was flung into the veld.
The police said yesterday that while the cause of the accident was not yet known, Roodepan police were investigating a case of culpable homicide following an accident on Midlands Road.
“Two females were declared dead on the scene while another two people were taken to hospital by ambulance,” police spokesman, Captain Olebogeng Tawana, said.
As police cordoned off the road to vehicles after the accident, only allowing fire engines and official vehicles to get to the scene, several local residents arrived on foot and raised concern about the condition of the “deadly road”, where several people have died in vehicle accidents.
“How many more lives must be lost here before something is done about this road, which is full of humps and unsafe to drive on,” one man asked.
More residents agreed with this sentiment and called on authorities to do something.
Sol Plaatje Municipality spokesperson, Sello Matsie, responded by saying that Midlands Road belonged to the Northern Cape Department of Infrastructure and Public Works and was not in the jurisdiction of the municipality.
Other community members who arrived on the scene of the accident to see if it was their family members that were killed in the crash, became frantic after police refused them access to the scene.
As the Golf ’s occupants were not identified, the wreck was not removed by towing services and was by yesterday stripped of removable parts such as its tyres.