In South Africa a pedestrian bridge collapsed onto the N3 highway
in early hours of Wednesday
morning, August 9, which resulted in a full road closure between Van Buuren Road and the M2
Geldenhuis Interchange.
A female passenger survived after being trapped inside the
cab for about two hours while rescue teams battled to extricate her out
of the wreckage after the truck, in which she was travelling, crashed
into the collapsed pedestrian bridge running.
Disaster and Emergency Management Services (DEMS) received the call at 01:23 and both Bedfordview and Germiston Central fire stations rescue teams swiftly responded.
On arrival it was found that four vehicles, three trucks
and a sedan, crashed into the concrete bridge lying across both North
and South bounds of the freeway.
A total of five patients were accounted for from all
vehicles. Three from one truck were still trapped inside the cab and two
in other vehicles escaped with minor injuries.
Rescue teams had to use the jaws of life to rescue those
trapped inside the cab. The driver and a seven-year-old girl were
transported to Bertha Gxowa hospital in Germiston in stable conditions,
while the adult female passenger was airlifted to Linmed hospital in
critical condition.
The driver of one of the trucks sustained stable injuries and was
transported to Charlotte Maxeke hospital in Johannesburg, while the
fifth patient - from the sedan -sustained minor injuries and refused
transportation.
The freeway is still closed to traffic in both directions
and motorist are advised to avoid using the N3 freeway through
Geldenhuys interchange as it will take time to clear up the debris.
The actual cause of the bridge collapse is still undetermined and investigations are underway.
-The Citizen
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