Accidents.co.za | Discussion, Prevention, Investigation and Response

Paramedics had to rush a man that was in a critical condition from Van der Bijl Park to the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg after he apparently fell from the back of a truck and sustained critical head injuries.

Shortly after 12:30 paramedics attended the scene and were quickly escorted to where the man was lying. On further inspection paramedics found that the man was barely breathing and his condition was busy deteriorating. Paramedics had to act quickly to stabilise the man and rush him to a nearby hospital for further medical management.

According to bystanders on the scene, the man believed to be in his 50’s fell from the back of the truck whilst unloading cargo. However, the exact cause remain uncertain.

Paramedics later discovered that the patient good not be accepted by the local provincial hospital and had to be transferred by road to the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg.

Whilst trying to keep the man alive, the ER24 Emergency Contact Centre liaised with the Baragwanath Hospital and learned that they could accept the patient. Paramedics praised the hospital and its staff for its quick reaction. The medical team mostly consisted of volunteers at the trauma unit.

Werner Vermaak
ER24

A forty-year-old man was airlifted to hospital after a bakkie and truck collided on Philadelphia Road (R304), at Old Malmsbury Road, near Philadelphia.

When emergency services arrived on the scene they found the driver of the bakkie was trapped in the vehicle and had sustained multiple serious fractures. The patient was cut from the wreckage by rescue crews from the Fire Department using hydraulic rescue equipment. The man was then airlifted by the ER24-Discovery Medicopter to Milnerton Medi-Clinic in a serious but stable condition. The driver of the truck was not injured.

The intersection was closed while emergency services worked on the scene. The cause of the collision is being investigated by police.

Tristan Wadeley

ER24

One person is believed to have died and two others were injured after a truck allegedly lost control, left the road and overturned on a shack, on Main Road in Kwa Dabeka, near Pinetown.

When paramedics arrived on the scene they treated two occupants of the truck for moderate to serious injuries. ER24 and EMRS stabilised the patients on scene before transporting them to hospital.

Bystanders at the scene alleged that an occupant of the shack was rushed off to a local clinic prior to the arrival of paramedics and had subsequently died, this however could not be confirmed. The SAPS were in attendance and are investigating the incident.

Tristan Wadeley
ER24

An articulated truck carrying containers, was travelling through the intersection of Boschoff street and Long Market street in Pietermaritzburg when it is believed that a woman stepped out into the road.

The woman who appears to be in her late fifties was fatally injured in the accident. The truck driver was unable to stop his heavy vehicle quickly after he had hit the woman, and she was found with multiple traumatic injuries to her body, and she was lying underneath the truck.

It seems that no one else was with the woman at the time of the incident, and it will be the duty of the SAPS to local and inform the woman’s family of the tragedy.

The truck driver was not injured, but he stood on the scene with a sense of disbelief to what had just occurred.

Vanessa Jackson
ER24

A truck carrying sheep into Krugersdorp from the Northern Cape has overturned on the Rustenburg road near Luipaard Street.

According to ER24 paramedics on scene, the road suddenly turns sharply when travelling into Krugersdorp from Magaliesburg. It seems that the truck driver lost control on the bend and overturned. The sheep escaped from the cage at the back of the truck and ran wildly into the road.

According to the paramedics, hundreds of frightened sheep were now causing chaos in the road, but fortunately, a number of passersby and drivers actually stopped to assist in herding the sheep into a nearby field. It took them just under and hour and a half to get the last of the sheep into the field where a local farmer will bring one of his trucks to load them until the owner can collect them.

Sadly, four sheep lost their lives in the accident.

The driver of the truck was left uninjured, and the passenger sustained only minor injuries and was transported to a nearby hospital for observation.

[Info from ER24]

Durban ( Kloof ) M13 East Bound Fields Hill.

Traffic came to a standstill this morning after an articulated truck jacked knifed and over turned on the M13 east bound heading towards Pinetown, causing all three lanes to be closed to traffic.

ER24 paramedics rushed to the scene to find a container lying across the highway and still connected to the trailer. The cabin of the truck was facing towards oncoming traffic. The driver was found walking around on the scene and had not suffered any injuries. Fire Department had to use specialised equipment to cut the container away from the trailer so the towing company could move the truck to one side.

Metro Police had closed off the M13 / N3 Split to help minimize traffic volume. Cars were taken off the M13 and directed onto Pioneer road into Pinetown. Traffic on the N3 also became congested as traffic was backlogged for about 1km from the Marrianhill Tolplaza due to this accident.

It is believed that the driver who is a foreign nationalist did not know where he was going, had gone up Fields Hill and done a turn at the Shell garage to come back down the highway. He then said that he started to have mechanical problems and lost control of the truck.

All necessary authorities were on the scene and would be investigating the accident. It is unclear when the road will be reopened to traffic.

Derrick Banks

ER24

Durban ( Hillcrest ) St Helier Road Off Old Main Road

A truck driver escaped with only minor injuries after the truck he was travelling in left the M13 freeway and rolled down on to St Helier road this afternoon.

Emergency personnel arrived on the scene to find the truck completely blocking the road and Tar waste was all the scene. The driver who had climbed out of the vehicle had sustained very minor injuries and was stabilise by ambulance staff before transported to Life Crompton Hospital for further medical care.

It is believed that the truck was travelling down the M13 towards Hillcrest when the vehicle may have had a mechanical problem, causing the driver to lose control and crash through the Armco barrier and roll down the embankment.

Fire Department, VEMA and Metro Police were in attendance.

Derrick Banks
ER24

Atterbury Fire and Vehicle collision

Also view for more on this accident:

• Photos of accident that closed the N1 South

We would like to urge all vehicle owners to view the information on vehicle fire:

• Escape and Safety from Vehicle Fire
• Fire Stryker and extinguishing fires

Durban ( Everton ) M13 Durban Bound between Everton and Kloof

A driver and his passenger have been seriously injured after the truck they were travelling in over turned on the M13 Durban Bound between Everton and Kloof this afternoon.

ER24 arrived on the scene to find the truck lying on its side in the far left hand lane of the freeway. Both patients who had been found outside of the vehicle had climbed out through the windscreen before emergency personnel had arrived.

The driver and passenger had sustained possible neck and back injuries while the driver had possible chest injuries as well. They were stabilised on the scene and transported to Life Entabeni Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

It is unclear what caused the driver to lose control but the necessary authorities were on the scene. Traffic was affected due to the accident. Only one lane was open for vehicles.

Derrick Banks

ER24

Two people were seriously injured when an articulated truck and a light motor vehicle collided on the N3 Johannesburg bound carriageway on the Cedara off-ramp this afternoon.

It is thought that an articulated truck had been travelling on the Johannesburg bound carriageway when the driver lost control of the truck. In an effort to avoid road works the man steered the out-of-control truck onto the off-ramp and pushed through an intersection and slammed into a VW Citi Golf.

The truck then left the road and came to rest at the foot of a steep embankment. The truck driver and driver of the Golf sustained serious injuries and were treated and stabilised at the scene by Netcare911 Paramedics before they were transported by ambulance to hospitals in Pietermaritzburg for further definitive medical care.

Jeffrey Wicks
Netcare 911