FREE STATE, SOUTH AFRICAÂ — Fifteen people were injured on late Saturday afternoon when a bakkie (South African for a pick up truck) overturned in central South Africa, authorities said.
The accident happened around 5.30 p.m. local time on a gravel road between Fouriesburg and Clarens in the Free State, a province in central South Africa.
“It is believed that the driver of the bakkie lost control while negotiating a bend and then overturned,” said Chris Botha, a spokesman for Netcare 911. “The twisted remains of the vehicle came to rest some 10 meters (32 feet) from the roadway after ejecting the passengers along the way.”
Botha said that, when Netcare 911 paramedics arrived on the scene, they found the injured lying in a field. “After triaging the wounded they found three people with critical injuries and twelve others with injuries ranging from serious to minor,” he said.
The injured were transported by Netcare 911 to various provincial hospitals in Bethlehem.
On Thursday, seventeen people were injured when a minibus taxi overturned on the N2 northbound carriageway near Zinkwasi, north of Durban, after the driver lost control due to a rear wheel blowout. Three of the victims were seriously injured.
