Times Of Swaziland: FAMILY OF 5 KILLED IN SA CAR CRASH

FAMILY OF 5 KILLED IN SA CAR CRASH
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BY MELISA MSWELI on 04/11/2019 01:59:00


MBABANE – Tragic! This best describes a nasty car accident which occurred on
one of the roads in neighbouring South Africa and nine lives were lost,
including those of of a family which was based in Eswatini.
It has been gathered that five of the deceased persons were based in the Kingdom
of Eswatini.
They cannot be named as their families could not be traced at the time of
compiling this report.
According to information sourced from the South African Police Service (SAPS),
the accident occurred on the R74 road between QwaQwa and Harrismith in South
Africa.
It was gathered from the SAPS that a local registered Toyota Avanza which was
white in colour, collided with a Volkswagen Amarok which had South African
registration numbers.
In the Avanza, there were five passengers, including members of a Bulembu-based
family.
The family, originally from Canada, consisted of a husband, wife, two children
and a liSwati adopted young adult male.
Visiting
According to sources, the wife and two children were in the country visiting the
husband who works as a volunteer and whose job was to identify funds for
emaSwati.
It was said that he was in the country for close to two years and was to stay
for another year before going back home.
In South Africa, according to a source, they had taken the adopted child, who
was into cycling, for a competition and they were carrying a bicycle.
Initially, they had left the country on Friday and were on their way back when
the crash happened. When called for a comment at around 3pm, Harrismith SAPS
Constable Ntshingila confirmed that there was an accident that involved an
Eswatini registered car.
He added that a full report was yet to be compiled later yesterday as the police
officers were still on the scene.
Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile
Vilakati, when called to find out if there was an accident officially reported
to them, said they had only seen the circulating news on social media but no
official report had been filed with them.
“We saw it on social media and we will only be in a position to confirm it
when there is a formal report,” she said.
Sihlangu Nhlabatsi of the Eswatini Cycling Association (ECA), said they reacted
to the information making rounds on social media and got information about the
family.
Condolences
Even though he did not want to commit himself to the fact that they had gone for
cycling, he sent his condolences, adding that they were still enquiring.
“Normally, when cyclists are going out of the country, there should be a
letter issued by ECA for use at the border and none such was from us. This
therefore is the reason we are still enquiring to get the facts about the
accident,” he said.
Information gathered was that there was an urgent meeting that was called at a
Bulembu-based church after news of the accident broke.
It could not be gathrerd, however, what was discussed exactly but a source
revealed that they were informing the people who were working with the man about
the accident.
Picture
It should be noted that a picture believed to have been taken at the accident
scene was circulating on social media yesterday.
However, the SAPS had not confirmed it by the time of compiling this report as
the constable said they were not in position to do so.
Recent accidents where emaSwati lost their lives on South African roads include
one where four people died last year and three others sustained serious injuries
in a collision on the N2 near Mtunzini in KwaZulu-Natal.
One of the people involved in the accident was an auditor of a reputable firm,
while another was an employee in one of the hospitals in the country.
Another one is that of two local socialites who were killed after their vehicle
was involved in a collision with a truck.
The accident happened in Ermelo last year.
Another is that of two men who were on board a car that collided with a truck,
wherein they later died in hospital.