4 DIE IN HEAD-ON COLLISION

PIGG’S EPAK – It was a tragic weekend as four people succumbed to their injuries when two vehicles crashed head-on.

The accident happened at around 3pm on Saturday and it involved a Toyota Quantum and a van. It was gathered that the Quantum was headed towards Matsamo when the two vehicles collided. The accident happened along the Pigg’s Peak Matsamo Highway near Ekudvwaleni. The Toyota Quantum is said to have been driven by Sipho Malambe, who was also the owner of the vehicle. He died on the spot. Malambe was also the owner of some of the public transport vehicles that operate along the Pigg’s Peak/Mzimnene Route. In Malambe’s vehicle, two others are also said to have died while attempts were being made to treat them at the hospital.

Confirmed

A relative confirmed the death of Malambe, but he could not give more details as more family members were yet to be informed about his demise. The van was driven by Mveli Mnisi, who was a civil servant under the Ministry of Public Works and Transport. Mnisi was also recently announced as the winner of E1 million in the Eswatini Mobile ‘Win A Million’ Competition. A relative, who was reached on the matter, declined to give any other details, saying that the elders in the family were the right people to speak to but that they were not available to do so at the time of compiling this report. The impact is said to have been so severe that some of the people, including the driver, were trapped inside the Toyota Quantum. Eswatini National Fire and Emergency personnel were called to use ‘jaws of life’ to cut parts of the metal so that they could remove the injured passengers.

Several others were rushed to the Pigg’s Peak Government Hospital for treatment and were later discharged, while two more were still admitted by yesterday. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the accident. She said: “On 09/07/2022 along MR1 Mbasheni-Tingadzini Public Road, an Isuzu LDV driven by a 40-year-old man of Njakeni, collided with a Toyota Quantum driven by a 58-year-old man of Mzimnene, who had 13 passengers on board. Both drivers were severely injured and rushed to Pigg’s Peak Government Hospital where they were certified dead.

Injuries

“Meanwhile, of the 13 passengers, two men aged 63 and 52, succumbed to injuries while they were being treated at Pigg’s Peak Government Hospital. Two more passengers aged 32 and 55, are currently admitted to the Pigg’s Peak Government Hospital and Mbabane Government Hospital due to injuries sustained in the accident, while the remaining nine passengers were treated and discharged.”

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