Six people died and 42 were injured when two trucks collided in thick fog along the N7 near Malmesbury on Monday, emergency services said.
Dr Wayne Smith, who was at the scene, said an articulated truck collided at about 7am with a smaller seven-tonne truck, which rescuers believe was carrying farm labourers.
On impact, the cab section of the articulated truck flipped over and trapped the farm workers.
Smith said 48 people were treated at the scene. Thirty had minor injuries, 11 were ”more serious” and one critically injured person was airlifted to hospital by helicopter.
”We used the jaws of life and a rescue crane to lift the truck.”
Smith said one of the survivors had been trapped under the wreckage, surrounded by bodies that apparently shielded him from the impact. — Sapa