/ 1 February 2007

Head-on collision leaves 20 people dead

Twenty people died and five were injured in a head on collision on the road between Standerton and Embalenhle, Mpumalanga police said on Thursday.

Superintendent Abie Khoabane said a Ford Laser overtook a municipal water-tank truck and collided head on with a Quantam minibus taxi on Wednesday evening.

”The Ford Laser went under the water tank truck and the Quantam overturned,” he said.

Nine men, seven women, two boys aged two and seven and two girls aged seven and eight were killed in the accident.

Their families have not yet been informed about their deaths.

All five occupants in the Ford were killed.

Of the 17 people in the Quantam, 14 died on the scene and one woman died in hospital.

The injured patients include two from the Quantam and three from the municipal truck. They were taken to the Evander Hospital. — Sapa