Free State crash involving bus and truck claims 10 lives

JOHANNESBURG - Ten people have died in the Free State after a bus collided with a truck on the N6 in Reddersburg on Tuesday morning.

The bus with 33 passengers aboard was travelling from Gauteng to the Eastern Cape.

Emergency services spokesperson Sipho Towa says 31 people were injured and taken to hospital.

“On arrival, the crews found that it was a bus and a truck they collided head on at the site and then at that stage they could confirm five fatalities. But the case is continuing now and the total number of fatalities is standing at 10,” he said, adding that “several people are critically injured and they're en route to different hospitals in Bloemfontein at the present moment”. 

Meanwhile, the N6 in Reddersburg has been closed following the crash.

Roads and Transport Department spokesperson Hillary Mophethe said traffic was being diverted to alternate routes.

“We would really like to plea with road users to make sure that when they embark on journeys, they are fresh and they are travelling with road worthy vehicles to ensure the safety of the commuters and to truck drivers, rest before you take long trips and try rest every two hours to avoid head on collisions.”

RTMC PROBES DEADLY CRASH

The Road Traffic Management Corporation has sent a team of crash investigators to the Free State to probe the cause of the crash.

Preliminary reports suggest that the bus collided in a side-swipe type crash with the truck travelling in the opposite direction

RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane is urging drivers to exercise caution when travelling.

“The RTMC has sent a team of investigators to the Free State to begin a probe into the clash that killed ten people in the early hours of this morning. The RTMC reiterates its call to motorists to avoid travelling in the early hours of the morning, as information that has been collected over time indicates that most terrible crashes happen at dawn.”