A man was killed and three others seriously injured when the vehicle they were travelling in left Wiggins Road in Chesterville and plunged into a storm water drain last night.
What caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle remains unclear and will be the subject of a South African Police Force investigation.
Paramedics arrived at the scene to find that the vehicle had pushed through the Armco barrier on a steep bend on Wiggins Road and plunged into the rubbish littered drain.
Three seriously injured passengers had managed to clamber to the roadside whilst the driver had been killed, his body still trapped in the twisted wreckage.
The injured occupants of the vehicle were treated and stabilised at the scene before they were transported by ambulance to the King Edward VIII and Netcare St Augustine’s Hospital for the medical attention they required.
Due to the highly technical aspect of the body recovery, Police Search and Rescue Unit officers were called to assist.
They arrived and immediately set about establishing a rescue system using winches and pulleys. Search and Rescue Unit Commander Captain Troy Allison and a paramedic used the Jaws of Life and other hydraulic rescue equipment to free the body.
Once freed the body was placed in a Stokes Rescue basket and hoisted out of the drain.
