Durban - There were three horrific accidents involving trucks in KwaZulu-Natal on Monday which tragically claimed one life while two others were seriously injured.
ALS Paramedics Medical Services director Garrith Jamieson said one person was killed in a truck accident on the Hans Dettman Highway over the M7 Highway in Pinetown just before 1pm on Monday afternoon.
Jamieson said ALS Paramedics together with Netcare911 Rescue arrived on the scene to find that a single truck had lost control and jack knifed.
“The driver a male believed to be in his fifties, was found severely entrapped in the truck,” he said.
Advanced Life Support Paramedics quickly assessed the driver however, his injuries were too severe, he said.
“There was nothing more paramedics could do for him and he was declared deceased on the scene,” said Jamieson.
Jamieson added that the Jaws of Life and other hydraulic tools were used to cut the driver free from the wreckage.
IOL reported that two people were injured in two separate accidents in northern KwaZulu-Natal on Monday morning.
KZN Emergency Medical Services spokesperson Robert McKenzie said in the first accident a truck overturned on the R66/R34 road near Ulundi.
McKenzie said a secondary crash occurred when another truck crashed into the scene.
He said two people were injured as a result.
“Amazingly, there were no fatalities as a result of the collision, which left four vehicles burning. The circumstances resulting in the crashes will be investigated by police,” he said
Meanwhile, the KZN Department of Health confirmed on Monday that the death toll in the gruesome Pongola accident, where a truck collided with a bakkie, on Friday has been updated.
SAPS confirmed that 20 people died and not 21, after forensic experts discovered that one body was counted twice, it said.
The department said 18 pupils, a teacher and the driver were killed.
Meanwhile, The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in KZN said the truck driver responsible for the mass deaths appeared in the Pongola Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Sibusiso Siyaya, 28, faces 20 counts of culpable homicide.
The NPA said the matter was remanded to September 26, for a bail application.
