Weekend carnage on South Africa's highways claims five lives in N4 crash and two in N2 accident

Five people were killed in a horror crash on the N4 toll road between Machadodorp and Belfast on Sunday afternoon.

Five people were killed in a horror crash on the N4 toll road between Machadodorp and Belfast on Sunday afternoon.

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Published 22h ago

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Five people have been killed and two others injured following a horror crash on the N4 toll road between Machadodorp and Belfast.

According to police, a sedan and truck collided head-on, on the highway, on Sunday afternoon.

"The deceased included a toddler, two males, and two females. The victims were occupants in the sedan and they all perished at the scene.

"One person also in the sedan sustained serious injuries. The driver of the articulated truck was slightly injured," said Mpumalanga Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison spokesperson, Moeti Mmusi.

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Mmusi said officials are investigating the cause of the crash.

Provincial MEC for Community Safety, Security and Liaison, Jackie Macie, said the crash was "deeply regrettable".

"It is deeply saddening for families to lose their loved ones in mostly preventable crashes. We continue to call on motorists to use the road with due diligence and great caution to avoid deadly collisions," he added.

One of the vehicles involved in a multi-car crash on the N2 in Durban on Sunday.

In KwaZulu-Natal, two people were killed in a crash on the N2, near the NPC factory on Sunday afternoon.

Garrith Jamieson of ALS Paramedics said five vehicles collided with each other with two overturning numerous times, ejecting passengers mostly children on the busy freeway.

"A six-year-old child sustained critical injuries and was rushed to a local hospital for urgent care. However, he went into a state of cardiac arrest and despite best efforts by doctors and Advanced Life Support paramedics, he passed away at the hospital," Jamieson said.

Two people were killed in a horror crash on the N2 in Durban on Sunday.

He added that a man, in his 50s, went into cardiac arrest at the scene and despite the emergency teams' best efforts, he died at the scene.

"Approximately 10 patients had sustained serious to critical injuries and were stabilised on the scene by Advanced Life Support Paramedics before being rushed through to a nearby Durban hospital for the urgent care that they required.

"At this stage the events leading up to the accident are unknown however SAPS were on the scene and will be investigating further," Jamieson said. 

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