Pretoria – Four people were killed and four others injured after two cars collided on the R49 near Ottoshoop outside Zeerust in North West.
During the collision, one of the vehicles caught fire immediately after impact.
“Two men and one woman were burnt beyond recognition while the occupant of another vehicle was also declared deceased at the scene of the accident.
“Four other occupants who survived were taken to hospitals,” said Oshebeng Koonyaditse, the Department of Community Safety and Transport Management spokesperson.
According to North West emergency medical services spokesperson Benedict Ledwaba, paramedics found three males and a female burnt beyond recognition inside a VW Polo.
“Authorities are on scene investigating the cause of the accident,” Ledwaba said.
Meanwhile, the MEC for the province’s Community Safety and Transport Management, Sello Lehari, sent condolences to the family of the deceased and wished a speedy recovery on the injured.
Lehari added that a case of culpable homicide was being investigated.
In another accident, Free State Education MEC Tate Makgoe and his bodyguard lost their lives in a car crash in the early hours of Sunday outside Winburg on the N1.
It is alleged that their vehicle collided with two cows on the N1 outside Winburg. According to the emergency services crew who responded to the accident, three occupants were trapped inside the car. The crew used the Jaws of Life to free them and two were declared dead on the scene.
The driver of the vehicle suffered moderate injuries and was transported to Winburg Hospital for stabilisation and would later be transported to Bloemfontein.
IOL