Three people killed, 40 injured after bus veers off road overturns on N1 north

Emergency services at the scene where a driver of a Scania bus lost control of the vehicle, hit an electric pole and overturned on the N1 north. Picture: Supplied

Emergency services at the scene where a driver of a Scania bus lost control of the vehicle, hit an electric pole and overturned on the N1 north. Picture: Supplied

Published Jan 3, 2022

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Pretoria - Three people have been killed after a bus lost control and veered off the road where it overturned leaving 40 others injured on the N1 north outside Botlokwa in Limpopo.

Department of Community Safety and Transport spokesperson, Mike Maringa, confirmed the incident.

He said: “It is alleged that the driver of the speeding Scania bus lost control of the vehicle, hit an electric pole and overturned.

“Three people were certified dead on the scene and over forty passengers were rushed to Botlokwa and Polokwane hospitals.

He said reckless and negligent driving was cited as a possible cause of the accident.

Limpopo traffic volumes have increased on the N1 and on the provincial roads as thousands of motorists who were in the province for the holidays return to their respective places of work.

Last week an accident claimed four lives on the N1 north next to Capricorn Plaza in the Vhembe district.

Maringa said it was alleged that a driver of a Renault was overtaking recklessly and collided head-on with a Nissan minibus.

“Three male passengers and one female were killed instantly and both drivers escaped with serious injuries. Unsafe overtaking has been cited as the possible cause of the accident.”

On New Year’s Day on the N1 south, two people were killed in a head-on collision involving a Mercedes Benz sedan and a Toyota loading sedan near Modimolle.

Maringa said: “It is alleged that the Mercedes Benz driver was speeding, lost control of the vehicle and collided head-on with an oncoming vehicle. Both drivers were killed on impact and three passengers were rushed to hospital. Speeding and reckless driving is believed to be the cause of the accident.”

Departmental MEC, Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya has cautioned public transport operators to obey the speed limits since they are vested with the responsibility to transport thousands of commuters on a daily basis.

“We are expecting traffic volumes to increase especially on the N1 and I want to urge road users to be extra cautious and obey the rules of the road. Our law enforcers are still out in numbers, and they will not tolerate lawlessness and reckless behavior. We cannot continue to count numbers early in the year because of reckless behavior, we need people to arrive at their destinations alive.”

Pretoria News