COUPLE, FRIEND KILLED IN HEAD-ON COLLISION

SIPHOFANENI – The community here is grieving after a horrific crash killed a mother, her lover and a friend as they drove home from Manzini City on Friday night.

The three people, Martha Nsimbini (45), who is a businesswoman, her boyfriend, Samkeliso Magagula (32) and an unidentified friend (43), were killed on Friday after their vehicle, a Toyota Vitz, collided head-on with a truck pulling two trailers and ferrying sugar, reportedly to the Lubombo Region.
The accident occurred along Siphofaneni-Hhelehhele Public Road near Mhlaleni at about 6pm.

Claims are  that the Toyota sedan, which was driven by Magagula, veered off its lane into the lane of the truck, killing all three passengers on the spot.
“The vehicle was over speeding and drove straight into the lane of the oncoming truck. The truck driver tried his best to avoid the speeding vehicle, however, it rammed into it,” an eye- witness said.

According to Martha’s sister-in- law, Jabulile Nsimbini, the deceased had been in a love relationship with Magagula for years, however, they were not married. Jabulile said the two stayed together and had left a six month-old baby.

“This is tragic and as a family we are still traumitised by the accident. We were informed at the time it occurred and immediately rushed to the scene.
“Upon arrival, the road was closed and the police and Fire and Emergency Services personnel were trying to get their bodies, which were unidentifiable at the time, out of the vehicle, which was extensively damaged,” Jabulile said yesterday.

She mentioned that the couple had seven children, and they had been also informed about the tragic incident.
Jabulile further said the family was disappointed with members of the public, who instead of assisting the police, immediately went to grab packets of sugar from the truck.

“It was during the evening and the accident was bad, however, people went for the sugar instead of concentrating on the accident or helping out, it was shocking.”
“The accident was a gruesome one as the occupants’ body parts were crushed into pieces. As a family, we had to take some of the parts home as others had been already taken to Good Shepherd Hospital.”

“We are hoping that we will manage to differentiate which parts belong to our family member, however, it will be difficult,” Jabulile also said.
Allegations are that the couple and the friend, who was a construction worker, were coming from a certain celebration, which was held around the Manzini Region when the accident occurred.

Well-placed sources insisted that excessive speed was likely the primary factor in the crash even though there were signs of braking on the public road before the vehicle crashed into the truck. It was gathered that both sides of the public road were temporarily closed following the tragic accident as police officers and the Fire and Emergency Services personnel tried their best to remove the bodies and some body parts from the wreckage.

“It took them six hours to manage to remove the body parts from the vehicle, it was a bad sight and the occupants would not have survived the incident.
“After everyone had left, members of the public discovered parts such as fingers and parts of intestines in the vehicle, the police had to be called again,” another eyewitness said.

The cleanup crew from the Fire departments were on scene until 1am, removing the debris of the horrific crash.
The vehicle was extensively damaged and the top completely removed when the accident occurred. It was later towed to a garage situated just before the city, in Moneni.
Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the accident and said the Siphofaneni police were still conducting investigations.

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