PUPILS FLUNG OUT IN KOMBI, BMW CRASH

PIGG’S PEAK – A bus, BMW and a kombi were involved in a freak accident which left several pupils from The Peak Nazarene Primary School seriously injured.

At least seven pupils who were on board the kombi, with two of their teachers were seriously injured when the BMW crashed  into the vehicle they were travelling in. One of the pupils lay unconscious, sprawled under a nearby tree while another was found under a guardrail. The accident happened near Highlands Inn, at a junction which leads to Mhlatane High School. It is alleged that the kombi was in front of a bus heading towards Pigg’s Peak while the BMW was behind the bus. As the BMW was overtaking the bus, the driver of the kombi was also turning to the right towards Mhlatane High School. It was during this moment that a noise of screeching tyres was heard as the driver of the BMW attempted to apply brakes. The BMW rammed into the side of the kombi, causing it to spin until it stopped several metres away.

According to the driver of the kombi, Andrew Msibi, the impact caused by the BMW was so much that the kombi spun and stopped in such a way that it faced the opposite direction as if heading to Mbabane instead of Pigg’s Peak. He said when he reached the Mhlatane junction, he turned right in the direction of Mhlatane High School headed to Hlanganani Primary to pick up a pupil but the journey was cut short by the accident. He said when his kombi eventually stopped after being hit, he tried to open his door but it was jammed. “I can’t remember how I arrived at the hospital,” he said. The school’s Head teacher, Gideon Gumedze, confirmed that seven pupils from his school were on board the kombi. Gumedze said there were also two teachers in the kombi and that they were also rushed to hospital. He was at the hospital moving from different wards, ensuring that all the pupils were being attended to. One of the pupils was rushed to the Mbabane Government Hospital due to the extent of his injuries while others were admitted at the Pigg’s Peak Government Hospital.  At the time of compiling this report, one of the pupils appeared to be unconscious.

In March 2017, a kombi accident left one pupil dead while several others were injured. There were 18 pupils on board the kombi and the accident happened near the Swaziland Plantations entrance along the Pigg’s Peak/Motshane Highway, which is also known as the King Mswati II Highway. Meanwhile, good Samaritans, who included a wardress helped to ferry the accident victims to hospital after the ambulance they had called was delayed. According to Sanelisiwe Kunene, who is a wardress, she feared that the situation could worsen for some of the pupils if they did not receive medical attention promptly. She said one of the pupils appeared to have been flung out of the vehicle. “It was a bad sight,” said the warder. Sanelisiwe said with the assistance of others, they carried some of the children to their vehicle and rushed them to hospital.

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