November 2, 2010. East Coast Radio’s Judith Subban reported that the Durban and Pietermaritzburg-bound sides of the freeway are virtually at a standstill because of pile-ups involving dozens of vehicles.
Medics said it all began just before 6am when six trucks collided on the way to Pietermaritzburg. Three people were hurt. In subsequent crashes, two people were killed and at least five others have been hurt. Heavy mist was reported in the area around the time of the accident, and was definitely a contributing factor.
ER24 spokesperson Derrick Banks said dozens of vehicles were involved in the crash. “Over a space of about a radius of five kilometres this morning, there’ve been major accidents along the N3 north and southbound involving about 30 cars and about 20 trucks.
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The ER24 Medicopter posted on Facebook about an hour ago: “Chopper 3 is mobile to a muli-vehicle pile up on the N3 near Camperdown (KZN). Apparently the accident involves 27 cars and 11 heavy goods vehicles. More updates to follow.”
“Traffic has been severely affected and it’s very difficult for emergency services to get to all these accidents at the moment,” said Banks.
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At this stage it looks as though it will be a while before the freeway is completely cleared.
Latest from ER24’s Derrick Banks: “When we left the scene about 9am there was still chaos, and there was loads to do to get the road reopened. The traffic was all diverted to the R103. Two people lost their lives and the injured were taken to local hospitals . . . Pietermaritzburg Medi-Clinic; Midlands Medical Centre; Edendale Hospital; Northdale etc.
ER24 Medicopter: “The accident involved multiple heavy goods vehicles, taxis and light motor vehicles. Well done to all services on the scene for the efficient handling of this incident!”