Few road accidents in Durban at weekend attributed to police blitz
The scene of a road crash. File Picture: Leon Knipe The scene of a road crash. File Picture: Leon Knipe
Durban - The Durban Metro Police on Sunday attributed the low number of fatal crashes to non-stop police operations throughout the weekend.
At least four people died in crashes in KwaZulu-Natal at the weekend.
Three people were killed and another was seriously injured following a collision between a truck and a light motor vehicle on the R56 in Richmond yesterday morning.
“When ER24 paramedics arrived at the scene shortly before 7am, they found a truck lying on its side and a vehicle partially off the roadway.
“The patient had sustained serious injuries - unfortunately three people inside the vehicle had sustained fatal injuries and were declared dead at the scene,” said ER24 spokesperson Ineke van Huyssteen.
Just after 9pm on Saturday, Netcare911 responded to reports of a collision on the R102 between Verulam and Ottawa, north of Durban.
Reports from the scene indicated that a light motor vehicle struck a pedestrian walking across the road.
The driver of the car lost control and left the road, coming to a stop down an embankment.
“Medics assessed the patient and found that he had been ejected from the car during the roll over.
“The patient was found to be in a critical condition and required advanced life support intervention, but his condition deteriorated and he was sadly declared deceased on the scene,” NetCare 911 spokesperson Shawn Herbst said.
The pedestrian sustained moderate injuries and was stabilised on the scene before being taken to hospital. Verulam police are investigating.
According to private security and paramedic company Reaction Unit South Africa, the motorist had dropped off a work colleague in Verulam and was returning to his home in Westham, Phoenix when the crash occurred.
Metro police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Parboo Sewpersad said the multiple roadblocks in several areas were behind the relatively low number of crashes.
“We have also made at least 120 arrests for drunk driving this weekend, due to our stop-and-search operations in various areas around KwaZulu-
Natal,” he said.
Sewpersad said most of the arrests took place at public beaches.