November 3, 2010. Road Traffic Inspectorate spokeswoman Zinhle Mngomezulu said the accident yesterday at about 5.45am between Cato Ridge and Camperdown was caused by thick early morning mist and poor visibility.
There were no roadworks on this stretch of road and, while there had been complaints about livestock on the road before, on this occasion there had been no such reports.
Possibly rubbernecking and the poor visibility had contributed to this “freak occurence” which had traffic backed up for hours, said Mngomezulu.
A truck driver and motorist lost their lives while 10 other motorists sustained moderate injuries after a number of multi-vehicle pile-ups.
ER24 said emergency personnel arrived on the scene and found both the truck driver and motorist had died. The remaining 10 patients were taken to hospitals in the Pietermaritzburg area.
Traffic was diverted to the R103 for most of the morning.