One man was
critically injured and several others sustained less serious injuries in an
accident on the R43 between Hermanus and Stanford last Thursday.
Authorities
confirmed that the R43 between Stanford and Hermanus was closed after the
accident involving only one vehicle on Thursday 3 September shortly before
08:00. The road was closed to traffic for nearly two hours while emergency
rescue service staff attended to the injured and recovered the wreck of the
vehicle.
Clinton
Coetzee, owner of Autorepairs Towing, said: “There were tyre marks on the road
surface and it appears that the vehicle had a tyre burst. The vehicle hit the
barrier and flew through the air before landing in a ditch at the side of the
road,” Coetzee explained.
Passengers
who were seated in the back of the vehicle were flung out, with some landing in
the stream at the side of the road.
“The
firefighters and paramedics had to carry the patients on stretchers up the
muddy embankment. One patient was critically injured,” said Coetzee.
EMR and CMC
Private Ambulance Services as well as Western Cape Health Department EMS
ambulances transported a total of 13 patients to hospital. The helicopter also
landed at the scene to airlift on of the patients to hospital.
Warrant
officer Freddie Booysen, spokesperson for Stanford Police, says it is suspected
that the driver lost control of the vehicle after one of the tyres burst.
“A case of
reckless and negligent driving is being investigated,” he added.