Subscribe & Follow

Advertise your job vacancies

Forensic team to take killer truck apart

15 Oct 2014

A team of police forensics investigators will take the truck that ploughed into traffic on the N12 highway to pieces bit by bit to establish the cause of the crash that left four dead.

Gauteng Traffic Police spokesman Obed Sibasa said witnesses told him that the truck was speeding before it ploughed into at least 48 cars leaving two people dead and a number injured. Image: Facebook

Witnesses and the truck driver have already provided clues on what might have caused the heavy-duty truck to lose control on the highway in peak traffic on Tuesday morning (14 October).

Gauteng Traffic Police spokesman Obed Sibasa said witnesses claimed the truck was speeding, but the driver told officials his brakes had failed. Sibasa confirmed that the driver had been detained.

"He might be facing murder or culpable homicide charges and reckless driving," he said.

The truck has been impounded by police so the forensic investigation can be done.

"If it is true and he was travelling at 120km/h, then we will charge him with reckless driving as a vehicle of that size is only allowed to travel at 80km/h," Sibasa said.

He said the driver was travelling from Potchefstroom to Germiston when the accident happened near the Voortrekker Road exit in Alberton on the N12 East.

"Two people were declared dead at the scene and three were critically injured," said William Ntladi, a spokesman for the Ekurhuleni Emergency Management Services. He said EMS personnel used the jaws of life to free a patient and one of the deceased from the wreckage.

Six people were seriously injured and helicopters had to airlift two patients to hospital after the truck hit at least 48 vehicles in the pile-up, forcing the highway to remain closed for seven hours.

DA MP Alan McLoughlin was stuck in traffic when he heard a loud bang. "It was the most horrible thing to see - cars and bodies flying through the air," he said.

Source: The Times via I-Net Bridge

Source: I-Net Bridge

For more than two decades, I-Net Bridge has been one of South Africa’s preferred electronic providers of innovative solutions, data of the highest calibre, reliable platforms and excellent supporting systems. Our products include workstations, web applications and data feeds packaged with in-depth news and powerful analytical tools empowering clients to make meaningful decisions.

We pride ourselves on our wide variety of in-house skills, encompassing multiple platforms and applications. These skills enable us to not only function as a first class facility, but also design, implement and support all our client needs at a level that confirms I-Net Bridge a leader in its field.

Go to: http://www.inet.co.za