MINISTER CARLISLE -SEARCH FOR OWNER OF VEHICLE AT CENTRE OF R45 HORROR CRASH CONTINUES
Robin Carlisle, the Minister of Transport and Public Works in the Western Cape has reacted with shock and anger to the latest horror crashes on the N1 and R44, which have so far killed a total of 13 people.
The first, on the N1 near Kraaifontein, involved a taxi and a truck and led to the deaths of five people, while the second, involving two trucks and a Caterpillar 631D, claimed eight lives among a total of 54 casualties.
Provincial Traffic Chief Kenneth Africa has reported to Minister Carlisle that in the second crash the casualties resulted when the bed of a truck transporting farmworkers was ripped off the chassis of the vehicle, when it collided with a giant tractor.
The tractor - reported to be a Caterpillar 631D, a kind of earthmoving vehicle with multiple configuration possibilities often used for road-building - was on the Klein Berg River Bridge when the crash occurred.
‘It appears that two trucks were approaching the bridge. The first, on seeing the massive earthmoving vehicle on the bridge, was able to brake in time,' Minister Carlisle said.