A man died when he tried to duck under a truck to cross the road and it rolled on top of him in the East London city centre yesterday.
Eye witnesses on the scene said Malungisa Nthlezi 28, was pushing a trolley on the corner of Buffalo Street and Terminus Street when he tried to cross the road underneath a large stationery truck hauling a trailer loaded with beer.
The accident occurred shortly before 5pm.
The driver of the truck had stopped at a red traffic light and when the light turned green he drove off as Nthlezi was running underneath.
Nthlezi was crushed by the back wheels of the truck before the driver was alerted to the horror accident by deafening screams from spectators.
He immediately applied brakes and when he got out he saw the tyres were still on top of the deceased.
As he rushed back to the truck to move it, the crowd of about 300 onlookers that had gathered screamed in horror again and the traumatised driver was forced to leave the truck standing.
Police, traffic officers, paramedics and firefighters rushed to the scene to protect the driver from the crowd.
The officials tried to establish if the body of the man under the truck could be moved with or without the truck having to be driven.
By 6pm officials had still not extracted the body. Nthlezi was said to be from Ziphunzana. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za