Five people were injured after a massive truck crashed into several cars before overturning in Kloof Nek Road in the Cape Town CBD on Tuesday morning.
Police are investigating a case of reckless and negligent driving after the truck’s brakes allegedly failed down the steep road.
The truck driver from Dibana Logistics in Montague Gardens lost control of the heavy-duty vehicle and crashed into several cars before overturning and landing in the garden of a residential complex.
Among the injured are former Miss South Africa Cindy Nell-Roberts.
Quoted in online reports from her hospital bed, Nell-Roberts said she was traumatised but fine.
The trok was reportedly carrying boxes of frozen fish mince and kreef. Several emergency service vehicles were on the scene as shocked pedestrians and motorists stood amongst the carnage.
The incident caused the traffic officials to close Kloof Nek Road between Kloof Street and Camp Road towards the city.
Mayco member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, said: "A heavy-duty articulated vehicle lost control and collided with several passenger vehicles before overturning.”
In an update at 11.30am, Smith said the truck driver and four other individuals involved in the accident had been transported to a nearby hospital with minor injuries.
Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg said the crash was reported at about 10.15am.
“Cape Town Central police registered a reckless and negligent driving case for investigation following a crash on Tuesday on Kloof Nek Road involving a truck and five cars,” he added.
According to Ward 77 councillor Francine Higham, who posted on Facebook, the accident was the result of the truck’s brakes failing.
The Daily Voice contacted Dibana Logistics for comment on Tuesday, but was told that the owner, Brendan Hiscock, was still at the scene and unavailable.
In August 2005, three Grade 7 pupils from Dennegeur Avenue Primary School in Strandfontein and their driver died after their school bus crashed in Kloof Nek. In 2007, the bus company owner was found not guilty of all charges.
Christiaan Lackay, director of Leandra Transport Bus Company, was charged in the Cape Town Regional Court on four counts of culpable homicide and contravening the National Transport Act by failing to display the relevant vehicle permit.
During closing arguments, his attorney Koos Smit said bus driver Andre Lemmetjies had been reckless and that the State had failed to prove the bus had been poorly maintained.
Pupils Angelique Johnson, Shavonne Beck and Brent Stander, along with Lemmetjies, died.