KLAPMUTS 16 August 2011, 12:00
6 men all believed to be aged between 30 and 40 have sustained various injuries after their vehicle collided with a bridge on the N1 highway near Kraaifontein.
The 6 men were traveling in a blue Mazda when they collided with a barrier next to the highway. The vehicle then overturned onto its right hand side before colliding into a concrete pillar under the bridge at high speed.
When ER24 paramedics arrived at the scene they found 5 of the men outside of the vehicle. One man was still entrapped in the wrecked vehicle. The man entrapped in the Mazda had sustained a severe head injury as well as suspected back and neck injuries. Local fire and rescue services extricated the man from the vehicle by cutting off the front passenger door with the use of hydraulic rescue equipment.
Due the man’s injuries and the distance to the nearest appropriate medical facility, on-scene paramedics dispatched the AMS helicopter to the scene. Traffic on the N1 highway in the direction of Cape Town was stopped completely for roughly 10 minutes whilst the helicopter landed at the scene. The patient was then airlifted to Tygerberg hospital for further medical care.
The 5 other men were treated at the scene for multiple lacerations and suspected back and neck injuries by ER24 paramedics and the Provincial Department of Health: Emergency Medical Services. All of the patients were then transported to hospital in ambulances. Local law enforcement authorities who attended the scene will be investigating the incident further.
Andre Visser, ER24
