Two UK motorists killed as truck skips N4 intersection near Ngodwana
The crash on Mpumalanga's busiest freight corridor has closed part of the N4 and left two more people in hospital.
Three people died when a truck skipped an intersection on the D799 Kapsehoop road and collided with three vehicles on the N4 Toll road near Ngodwana in Mpumalanga.
Two of the dead were motorists from the United Kingdom, according to the Mpumalanga Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison.
Department spokesperson Zandile Mavuso said the collision involved two light delivery vehicles and one sport utility vehicle. Both the driver and a passenger travelling in the SUV, who were from the United Kingdom, and the driver of one of the LDVs died on impact, Mavuso said.
The driver of the truck and the driver of the other LDV were taken to Kiaat Hospital in Mbombela with serious injuries.
Emergency services remained at the scene on Wednesday, and the road was partially closed. Motorists were asked to approach with caution because traffic was moving slowly.
The N4 and the Kapsehoop turn-off
The crash happened on the stretch of the N4 Toll road that runs through the Ehlanzeni district, between the Kapsehoop turn-off and Ngodwana, where the road passes the Sappi Ngodwana mill. It is a section that carries long-distance freight and passenger traffic between Gauteng and the Lowveld, and it is where the D799 meets the toll route.
The D799 Kapsehoop road runs through the hills above the N4 and joins the toll road at that intersection. The account given by the department is that the truck was travelling on the D799 when it skipped the intersection and went into the vehicles on the N4.
Mavuso said an investigation is under way. That is the standard step after a fatal collision on a provincial road, and it is the one that will establish how the truck came to cross the N4 at that point.
What is not yet established
No cause has been confirmed beyond the department’s account of how the collision happened. The department has not said whether speed, mechanical failure or any other factor is being investigated, and it has not named the people who died. No arrests have been reported.
What it means for the people who use that road
The immediate consequence is on the road itself. A partial closure on the N4 near Ngodwana slows traffic in both directions, and on a freight route that delay is felt by hauliers, by commuters between Mbombela and the Highveld, and by anyone whose trip depends on that stretch being open.
For the families of the two people from the United Kingdom, the crash has also drawn in the diplomatic machinery that follows a fatal accident involving foreign nationals on South African roads. The Department of International Relations and Cooperation has not yet commented on the case.
What happens next
The department has said the investigation is under way. The next public step will be the release of its findings on how the truck came to cross the N4 at the Kapsehoop intersection, and any decision by the National Prosecuting Authority on whether charges follow.
The Enquirer has asked the Mpumalanga Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison for the status of the investigation and for confirmation of whether the truck driver has been charged. The department has not yet responded.
Source: SABC News (website), Two UK citizens among three killed in Mpumalanga N4 accident
