Seven killed, several others injured in N2 bakkie accident

Seven people were killed and seven others seriously injured after a tyre of the bakkie they were traveling in burst causing the vehicle to roll on the N2 near Dutywa this afternoon.

Police spokesman Captain Jackson Manatha said four women and one man died on the spot. The other two died later.

The accident, he said, took place at 3pm today shortly after the bakkie had left the small town of Dutywa. Manatha said there were no other vehicles involved in the crash.

It is unclear where the driver who was carrying 13 passengers was headed when his bakkie crashed near Doti Village.

"The passengers were seriously injured and rushed to Butterworth hospital. The identities of the deceased will be withheld until their families are officially informed of their death. The ages of the deceased and the injured could not be established," Manatha said.

He said a case of culpable homicide was opened at the Dutywa police station for investigation.