Bakkie driver escapes death after runaway truck crashes into Umhlanga promenade

A man narrowly escaped death after his bakkie was hit by an out-of-control truck which then careened into a wall on the promenade adjacent to the Beverly Hills Hotel in Umhlanga on Monday.

It is understood that a construction truck carrying a payload of soil had barrelled down the hill near Umhlanga village‚ hitting the parked vehicle and shunting it down toward the beach.

Netcare911 spokesman Shawn Herbst said that the truck’s brakes failed. “The truck collided with a bakkie that was in a parking bay on Lighthouse Road at the time. The driver jumped out and fled as the truck hit his vehicle‚” he said.

“He was not injured but is visibly traumatized‚” Herbst added.

He said that the operator of the heavy goods vehicle was receiving medical care but was in a stable condition.