Tears flow as N1 victims are identified
State offers mass burial for victims
Family members of the 26 people who died in the N1 crash were overwhelmed by emotions yesterday after positively identifying their relatives’ bodies.
The crash happened on Friday between Mookgopong and Kranskop when a truck driver lost control and caused a multi-vehicle accident. Thabo Masipa from Marobjane village who lost his sister, Precious, 23, was one of many relatives who came to identify the bodies at Mokopane Provincial Hospital.
“I saw she had serious head injuries. Many had serious head injuries,” he said. Masipa said his sister was on her way to Johannesburg.
“It’s difficult to accept that a young life is gone,” he said. The family of the only survivor, Thabitha Sehatha, was praying for her recovery at the intensive care unit in Benoni, Ekurhuleni.
Her cousin, Kwena Sehatha, said: “She was travelling from Bochum to Tembisa. We got a call yesterday that she was admitted in one of the hospitals on the East Rand,” she said. President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his condolences to the families of the 26 and wished the survivors a speedy recovery. Ramaphosa said: “Road users are urged to exercise both courtesy and caution on our roads. It is all the more worrying considering that barely a month ago, 11 people lost their lives on the same stretch of road when a bus overturned.”
In the past few weeks several people have been killed in two separate incidents on the N1.
The Limpopo government said there would be mass funeral for the 26. Premier Stan Mathabatha yesterday announced this to the families who had gathered at Mokopane Provincial Hospital.
“We want to have a mass funeral. Our executive committee will meet on Monday and decide on the nature of the funeral. We call upon all family members to discuss the issue of the mass funeral because some might prefer a separate one due to religious reasons,” he said. Mathabatha said the funeral will be held in the Blouberg local municipality.