Steel beams crush truck driver to death

A 35-year-old truck driver died after the load of steel beams he was transporting shifted and crushed the driver’s cab.

ER24 spokesperson Ross Campbell said the incident happened on General Hertzog Street, Three Rivers, just outside Vereeniging on Wednesday evening.

Campbell said an entire truck-load of 6m steel beams had ripped through the back head of the trailer and landed on top of the cab.

The driver was found trapped and unresponsive.

Fire and rescue services extracted the driver and used a crane to lift the beams in a four-hour operation. The man was declared dead on the scene.