Central SA
N1 victims identified by families, one remains at mortuary─── LUCKY NKUYANE 12:51 Sun, 18 Dec 2022
The families of the victims of the N1 accident which occurred on Monday 12 December 2022 just outside the Verkeerdevlei Toll Plaza and Winburg, have successfully identified their loved ones.
Twelve people lost their lives when a truck and a minibus taxi were involved in a head-on collision.
According to the Free State Emergency Medical Services (EMS) spokesperson, Sipho Towa, eleven bodies were positively identified and taken by their families.
He says they are left with one unidentified body of a man at the state mortuary.
It is also understood that four patients were released whilst two remained behind for medical care at the Bloemfontein-based Pelonomi Tertiary Hospital after sustaining varying injuries.
The head-on collision claimed the lives of seven men, one baby boy, and three girls, who were all certified dead on the scene.
One boy and two girls, aged between 10 and 12 years old, were admitted to the Pelonomi Trauma Hospital with serious injuries.
The minibus taxi travelled from Johannesburg in Gauteng to Sterkspruit in the Eastern Cape when the accident occurred.
The 47-year-old truck driver has since been arrested and faces charges of culpable homicide. He was released on bail.
