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Johannesburg – A third person has died following a head-on collision between two buses on Jan Smuts Avenue on Friday morning, paramedics said on Friday night.
“I can confirm that a third person did die,” ER24 spokesperson Chitra Bodasing said.
Eyewitness News reported that she was critically injured and died in hospital.
The accident between two Metrobuses, one of them a double-decker, also killed one
of the drivers and a six-months pregnant woman. Sixty-four people were injured
in the collision near Zoo Lake around 07:00. The second driver was critically injured.
On February 25, another Metrobus crashed through the barrier of the Queen Elizabeth Bridge in the Johannesburg CBD, and crashed into the parking lot below, injuring the driver. He was the only occupant.
An eyewitness said Friday's accident was horrific.
"There were a lot of screams and cries. I walked past the buses and saw his [the driver’s] hand sticking out," said the woman, who did not want to be identified.
She normally used Jan Smuts Avenue to avoid traffic while getting to work, saw the accident and stopped her car.
Horrible
"I was shocked when [I saw] what happened. It was actually horrible. There were a
couple of people at the top level of the bus. I saw one lady, someone was helping her get out through a window."
Johannesburg metro police spokesperson Wayne Minnaar told reporters at the scene: "The cause of the accident will have to be investigated as both buses were full of passengers when the accident happened."
One of the passengers, Nthabiseng Mpholwane, remembered people screaming, crying and fighting to get out. She said she got out through a broken window. Her bus was
going north. The bus travelling south lost control and crashed into hers.
Johannesburg emergency services spokesperson Nana Radebe said 66 people were involved in the collision. She said the pregnant woman, sitting on the upper level of the double-decker bus, was critically injured and died in hospital.
The witness said she saw a woman being escorted to the deceased bus driver's side and wailed after seeing his body.
"She was crying and it was horrible. It’s one of the things I don't ever want to see in my life."
