Several injured in 18-car pile-up on N1 north

The crash occurred when a truck‚ which was allegedly speeding‚ smashed into the back of another truck - which had stopped because of an earlier accident - and several other cars‚ causing slow vehicles trying to avoid the previous accident‚ to collide with each other.

Emergency workers shut down the northbound lanes of the highway for several hours as they rushed to reach the injured and get them to hospital.

Ronal Simpson of Help24 said that an earlier accident had initially caused traffic to slow down.

She said that the driver of the apparently speeding truck had failed to stop in time and collided with the stationary vehicles.

“When we arrived on the scene there were three people lying on the side of the road. There are people who have suffered serious injuries. Fortunately there were no fatalities.”

ER 24 spokesperson Ineke van Huyssteen said that at least 13 people had been injured‚ with injuries ranging from moderate to serious.

“When ER24 arrived on the scene just after 10am‚ a lot of wreckage was found in the road. Traffic was also heavily backed up. Upon further assessment‚ paramedics found that at least 13 people sustained injuries ranging from moderate to serious. Fortunately‚ no fatalities were reported.

“ER24‚ as well as other medical services on the scene‚ transported the patients to hospital for further medical care.”

Thomas Malada‚ who was involved in the accident‚ said that the accident had occurred very fast and that it had been impossible to navigate away from it.

“I just heard the truck hooting and then I heard a huge bang. I checked my rear mirror and saw cars swerving‚ driving into each other. I was in the middle of the accident‚ I tried navigating my way out of it but I could not‚ I was hit by cars from all directions.”

He said as he tried to drive out of the way of motorists‚ he thought of jumping out of his car‚ but decided not to after hearing other motorists screaming.

“It was safe inside the car because it was just a mess outside. This was a terrible accident‚” Malada said.