SIPHOFANENI – One person has been confirmed dead following a horrific crash involving a flatbed truck at Siphofaneni Plaza yesterday afternoon.
According to Assistant Superintendent Nosipho Mnguni, the Acting Police Spokesperson and Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer (PICO) for the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS), one fatality had been confirmed while several other victims were rushed to hospital for medical treatment.
“So far we have one confirmed death,” said Mnguni, adding that police officers were still working to establish the full number of casualties.
Among those taken to hospital were a mother and her children as well as the driver of the truck.
According to an eyewitness, the flatbed truck, which was carrying building materials, was travelling from the Manzini direction towards the Big Bend direction when it allegedly lost its brakes shortly before reaching the busy shopping complex.
The vehicle reportedly veered off the road and crashed into the plaza’s parking area, where several people were seated and others moving around the premises.
Heavy metal structures believed to have been loaded on the truck were scattered across the parking area after the collision. Some of the beams landed among vehicles and people who were within the plaza at the time of the accident.
Several parked vehicles were also damaged during the crash after being struck by the truck or the materials it was transporting.
The eyewitness said the accident occurred at around 2pm, when the plaza was relatively busy with shoppers and people visiting nearby businesses.
Mnguni said they will release an official statement later once they have gathered all the facts.
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