The Free State Provincial Emergency Medical Services (EMS) spokesperson, Sipho Towa, reveals that another body was found at the scene by emergency personnel.

The accident happened when a truck and a minibus taxi collided head-on in the early hours of Monday, 12  December 2022, on the N1 about 20km north of the Verkeerdevlei Toll Plaza.

"At about 03:25 Emergency Medical Services were activated after a collision on the N1 between Verkeerdevlei and Winburg. On arrival, they noticed that a truck and a taxi collided head-on and that bodies were lying on the side of the road, with some trapped in the taxi," Towa adds.

10 people, including five women, three children and two men, were initially declared dead on the scene. Towa says while officials were busy with extrication, they found the 11th body beneath the taxi. 

The truck driver is said to have escaped the accident with no injuries, but it's not yet known if the taxi driver is among those who survived or not.

Two more people were critically injured, and one suffered minor injuries.

The patients were transported to Pelonomi Trauma Hospital. The accident has since led to the closure of the southbound lanes. 

ALSO READ: Death toll of N8 collision increases to 9

This accident follows on the heels of an accident last month between a bus and truck on the N8 road near Botshabelo, outside Bloemfontein, which claimed the lives of nine people and left scores injured. 

OFM News