SEDGEFIELD NEWS - Three men were seriously injured this morning at 09:00 when a 22m Nestlé milk container truck ploughed into two stationary bakkies parked next to the N2 just before the Swartvlei turn off near Sedgefield.

A delivery vehicle of Liquor Runners developed a flat tyre and the help of a Tyres and Treads road side assistance vehicle was called in.

As four men were changing the right rear tyre, the approaching truck travelling in the direction of Sedgefield, hit them at high speed, injuring two of the men – one from Liquor Runners and one from Tyres and Treads - flinging the Liquor Runners vehicle 100 meters down the N2. The truck driver was also injured.

The injured men’s colleagues managed to get out of the careening trucks way by fleeing into the dense bush next to the road.

The police and ER24 were soon on the scene and the injured were taken to Mediclinic George and the George Hospital. One of the two patients at Mediclinic George is being treated for a possible shoulder fracture, while the other sustained neck and back injuries. The injured person at the George Hospital also sustained back and neck injuries and doctors suspect that he also suffered internal injuries.

One of the men, Stephen Swartz from Tyres and Treads who got of the truck’s way in time, told the George Herald, sister newspaper of the Knysna-Plett Herald, that they frantically tried to attract the attention of truck driver by waving and shouting, but that the driver, who appeared to be busy with something on his dash board or instrument panel, failed to look up.

Traffic was restricted to one lane for three hours and rescue and safety workers cleared the scene of the wreckage, milk and broken wine bottles that lay strewn over the highway.

View more photos here.


The scene of the accident.

ARTICLE AND PHOTOS: ILSE SCHOONRAAD, GEORGE HERALD EDITOR