Times Of Swaziland: ANOTHER KOMBI ROLLS WITH 9

ANOTHER KOMBI ROLLS WITH 9
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BY SIBUSISO ZWANE on 23/03/2017 07:46:00


MANZINI – A total of nine people cheated death by a whisker after a rear tyre
of a Quantum they were travelling in burst, before the vehicle veered off the
road and overturned.
The accident took place yesterday around noon near Gum Tree, along
Manzini-Hhelehhele MR3 Public Road, about 800 metres away from where a Toyota
Hilux D4D LDV crashed head-on with a Mazda 626 sedan on Tuesday morning.
A source who witnessed the accident, said the kombi, a Toyota Quantum, which was
branded with a Standard Bank sticker, was speeding as it drove down the steep
road near Gum Tree, and one of its rear tyres burst.
“After the tyre burst, the kombi moved in a zig-zag manner but luckily there
were no oncoming cars because if that was the case, the accident could have been
a nasty one. The driver tried to control the kombi but failed,” the eyewitness
said. He said it crossed the lane for oncoming cars and smashed onto a small
hill by the roadside and overturned.
The source said members of the public who were first to arrive at the scene
tried to give assistance to the survivors by pulling them out of the vehicle
while waiting for the police and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel, who
are widely known as paramedics.
He said all nine people, including the driver, were rushed to the Raleigh Fitkin
Memorial (RFM) Hospital.
Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Khulani Mamba
confirmed the accident and said the police were still investigating its cause.
By the time of compiling this report, the survivors were still receiving
treatment at the RFM Hospital.
Meanwhile, Standard Bank Swaziland has clarified that the kombi was not the
property of the institution.
“We are saddened to hear of the accident. We are not yet apprised of the
magnitude of the accident but we would like to express our heartfelt sympathy to
the families of those involved in it. The kombi is not the property of Standard
Bank but an independently-owned public transport vehicle contracted to carry the
message of convenient banking through our digital channels,” reads part of the
statement from the bank.
On Tuesday, on the same road, a high speed overtaking manoeuvre ended in an
almost fatal head-on collision after a Toyota Hilux D4D LDV, which was
overtaking, collided with a Mazda 626 sedan, and all five occupants from both
cars were rushed to hospital.
Again, on the same day at Pigg’s Peak near Swaziland Plantations, a
four-year-old girl died tragically when a kombi  she was aboard, together with
17 other children, rammed into a truck.