/ 19 September 2010

Twenty-three killed in accident on the N1

The number of Malawians killed in a head-on collision between a minibus taxi and a truck in Laingsburg rose to 23 on Sunday with a death of another man in hospital, said Western Cape police.

Warrant Officer November Filander said Imraana McDed (36) died at the Tygerberg Hospital on Sunday morning.

The taxi, which was travelling from Rondebosch in Cape Town to Malawi, hit the truck, travelling from Cape Town, head-on on the N1 near Laingsburg, at 4am on Saturday.

The Road Accident Fund (RAF) would provide all the necessary assistance to the families of those killed and injured, Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele said on Sunday.

The 13 men who died at the scene were identified on Sunday as Rodney Masamba (45) Beaton Lumo Herbert (45) Betha M’khandawire (28) Wedson Masnjala (30) Willie Chingaipe Phiri (29) Happy Mphande (29) Mapopa Mc George Chriwa (37) James Yasini Thyaka (46) Godfrey Mwawa (31) Harry Phiri (35) Daniel Forty (24) Martin Key (32) and Raphael Bailoni (27).

The six women who died were Annie Malemia (29) Amina Llinga (31) Ellis Kampai (29) Diana Forty Tembo (28) Cecilia Kumwenda (35) and Edda Lifa (19).

The children were one-year-olds Joshua Singini and Christina Banda, and 13-year-old Ernest Kambwiri.

The taxi driver among those who died, said Filander.

He said the 30-year-old truck driver was injured, but was discharged from hospital on Saturday and was taken home to Johannesburg.

Road Accident Fund officials had been sent to give their families post-accident assistance, said Ndebele.

He said they had also been sent to help the families of those involved in a crash in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday.

In that incident, five people died and several were injured in a pile-up on the N2 near the Clare Road Bridge.

“As government, we will do everything possible to assist the affected families during their time of pain and grief,” said Ndebele.

He said the new National Traffic Law Enforcement Plan, aimed at reducing road crashes, fatalities and serious injures would be implemented on October 1. – Sapa