Six killed as minibus taxi hits truck head-on on South Africa's N2, second deadly crash on same stretch in 24 hours

A head-on collision on the N2 highway in South Africa's Eastern Cape at about 7 a.m. on Saturday (14 November) killed six people and injured six others, when a minibus taxi travelling from Alice to Bizana crossed into the path of an oncoming truck. Provincial transport officials confirmed it was the second deadly multi-victim crash on the same stretch of highway in less than 24 hours.

Five men and a woman killed; identities not yet confirmed

According to Eastern Cape Transport Department spokesperson Unathi Binqose, the vehicles were a white Toyota Quantum minibus taxi and a white Mercedes-Benz truck travelling from Kokstad towards Mzamba, and the collision happened near Mount Ayliff. Five male passengers and one female passenger were declared dead at the scene; three other people were seriously injured and three suffered minor injuries. Preliminary information points to the dead being university students returning to their homes in Bizana, but Binqose stressed their identities and student status had not yet been formally confirmed. Police have opened an investigation into the cause of the crash.

Thirteen dead on the same highway in under a day

Saturday's crash came less than 24 hours after another collision on the same highway near Ndabakazi on Friday (13 November), in which seven people were killed, among them a five-year-old boy. Together the two crashes claimed 13 lives. This site reported Friday's crash yesterday. The N2 in the Eastern Cape carries heavy traffic between coastal towns and inland university centres; police said investigations into both collisions were continuing and the names of the dead would be released once their families had been informed.

(File photo: a highway in South Africa.)