VIDEO: Four inmates hurt in prison bakkie crash

Four prison inmates were seriously injured when the bakkie in which they were travelling veered off the road and crashed into the bottom of a ravine yesterday morning.

The accident happened on the N2 between East London and Komga around 9am.

Deputy regional commissioner for correctional services in the province Noziphiwo Dumbela said the inmates were being transported from the Dutywa Correctional Service Centre to Frere Hospital for medical appointments.

A prison warder driving the bakkie sustained moderate to serious injuries, while a second warder who was in the passenger seat sustained arm injuries.

“The driver apparently lost control of the vehicle on the wet road on a curve,” Dumbela said.

The bakkie left the road and skidded for about 50m along the side of the road before crashing 30m down a steep slope through bush into a ravine.

Former spokesman for the department of health Sizwe Kupelo said he received a call from a passerby at about 10am who alerted him to the incident.

“No help was sought until I was alerted and, after receiving the call, emergency and rescue vehicles were dispatched.”

He said a chainsaw had to be used to open the back of the bakkie as the keys could not be found. “The inmates were taken out the back and treated.”

When the Daily Dispatch arrived at the scene, the injured inmates were being loaded one at a time onto a stretcher tied to a rope and pulled from the bakkie by rescue personnel.

The injured driver had already been taken to hospital.

Emergency rescue services were using a chainsaw to clear the bushes and trees around the bakkie still stuck at the bottom of the ravine.

Health spokesman Siyanda Manana said the four inmates were taken to Frere Hospital, while the warders were taken to Life St Dominic’s Hospital.

One of the inmates was reportedly taken to theatre in a critical condition after sustaining head injuries.

Dumbela said it took about an hour to get everyone to safety.

While driving back from the scene, the Dispatch team came across another accident on the N2 involving a truck and a minibus taxi.

According to police at the scene, the truck had been travelling from East London towards Gonubie when the driver lost control, drove through the wire fence along the centre island and crossed into oncoming traffic.

The truck hit the taxi, which had been travelling on the Beacon Bay off-ramp, before it crashed into the embankment.

Police spokesman Colonel Mtati Tana said one female passenger in the taxi was injured while the driver sustained serious injuries to his left leg.

In another incident, a vehicle overturned on the North-East Expressway. The accident happened about 9am. Attempts to get further details were unsuccessful at the time of writing. — arethal@dispatch.co.za