Teen is the only survivor of family among 7 killed in three vehicle crash

Seven people were killed after a collision between a truck, a Kombi and a Pajero on the N3, Harrismith, on Sunday evening.

A teenage boy is in a critical condition.

ER24 spokesman Ross Campbell said the Pajero was found up against the barrier on the Johannesburg-bound side of the N3, and the Kombi was found wedged under the front of a truck in the veld on the Durban-bound side.

Two people in the Pajero were declared dead on arrival by the Free State emergency medical services (EMS).

Five people in the Kombi, believed to be from one family, were also declared dead on arrival by the Free State EMS. All the occupants were found entrapped in the vehicle.

The only survivor in the Kombi was a 15-year-old boy.

“It took teamwork by all the emergency services at the scene to keep the truck from collapsing further while others extracted the critically injured patient,” said Campbell.

The teenager was treated at the scene before being transported to hospital by a private medical service.

Both sides of the freeway were severely backed up after the incident. 

TimesLIVE