DRIVER RUSHED TO HOSPITAL AFTER SPEEDING BUS OVERTURNS

MANZINI - A bus driver is lucky to be alive, after his vehicle overturned and ejected him through the windscreen.

The accident took place yesterday morning near Tisuka TakaNgwane Flats at Moneni, along the MR3 Public Road. According to a source, the bus was driving towards the city of Manzini and the driver was alone. He claimed that the driver of the Mercedes Benz bus lost control of it after its braking system became faulty. The source also alleged that there was a version that one of the tyres of the bus burst.

Crashed

He said this happened when the bus was passing Puma Filling Station and it crashed onto the concrete barrier which divides the highway lanes. He said the concrete barrier was damaged to the extent that one of the concrete blocks shifted from its position (pushed towards the opposite lane). Thereafter, he said the bus, which was supposedly speeding, drove towards the concrete barrier for a distance before it overturned on the opposite lane and blocked it. In the process, the source, said the bus was extensively damaged beneath, as its suspension was dismantled and its front wheels came out with the axle.

The source said when the bus overturned, it ejected the driver through the windscreen and luckily for him, there were no oncoming vehicles. He said the police and Eswatini National Fire and Emergency Services (ENFES) personnel were called to the scene and they responded promptly. He said an ENFES ambulance rushed the driver to hospital, where he was admitted. Meanwhile, the police closed the road until the bus was removed from the road. Motorists, who were driving towards Hhelehhele direction, had to use the service road from Moneni and join the highway at Lugaganeni.

Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said the accident was reported to the police. She said the bus was said to have developed mechanical faults in its braking system, hence the driver lost control of it. She confirmed that the driver was rushed to hospital and by the time of compiling this report yesterday afternoon, he was reported to be recovering well.

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