At approximately 09h00 on Thursday 18 June 2009, Netcare 911 paramedics responded to reports of a very serious collision on Beyers Naude drive right outside the Cresta shopping mall, north of Johannesburg.
Eye witness alleged that the PikiTup truck lost control before crashing through the palm trees on the middle island and then smashed head-on into a car that was travelling in the opposite direction. The truck then proceeded across Beyers Naude and down the embankment into the car park area of the Cresta Mall before crashing into a retaining wall between the mall and a car dealership. The truck came to rest approximately 50m away from the car.
Paramedics attended to five people at the scene, four from the truck and the driver of the car. Two of the trucks occupants including the driver were not injured and two others sustained minor injuries. The female driver of the car is a student who was on her way to class at the time of the incident, she is 21 years old. She was in a serious condition and was treated for several fractures to both of her legs, she was attended to by an advanced life support paramedic and analgesic medication was administered to reduce the significant amount of pain that she was experiencing.
A large crowd gathered to watch as fire fighters utilised several rescue tools including the “jaws of life” to remove the roof of the car and then push the dashboard off of her legs. All three of the injured were transported by ambulances to the Netcare Milpark hospital for further assessment and treatment.
Traffic in the area was severely effected and both lanes of Beyers Naude travelling towards Johannesburg were closed and one lane travelling towards the N1 highway was closed resulting in serious backlogs. The incident has now been cleared.
This incident was attended to by paramedics from the private ambulance services, fire department and the Metro Police and their specialist Accident Investigation Unit.
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