19 dead in South Africa, Kyrgyzstan road mishaps

In separate accidents, at least 19 people have been killed in South Africa and Kyrgyzstan

In South Africa, 15 people have died in a horrific head-on collision that occurred between a truck and a bus on the M17 metropolitan route in Patryshoek, north of Tshwane, said Thabo Charles Mabaso, spokesperson at the City of Tshwane Emergency Services.

The collision happened in the early hours of Friday morning.

"Emergency Services arrived on scene to find a bus and truck that collided head-on, with multiple patients lying around and some still trapped inside both vehicles," Mabaso said.

The 15 people were declared dead at the scene while 37 people were taken to various Pretoria hospitals. At least seven people sustained critical injuries, so the number of fatalities was expected to rise.

"Tshwane firefighters, Gauteng Emergency Medical Service and private ambulance services started with the treatment and extrication of the injured," he said, adding that the cause of the accident remains the subject of an investigation by law enforcement agencies.

Alderman Theunissen Grandi, the official in charge of Community Safety and Emergency Services in Tshwane, passed his message of condolences to the families of the deceased.

He urged road users to drive on the road with caution at all times. 

In Kyrgyzstan, four people were killed on Friday in a road accident when a passenger car and a truck collided in the country's east.

According to the traffic police, the driver of a Volkswagen Passat fell asleep, drove into the oncoming lane and collided with a Volvo truck. The driver and three passengers of the car were killed.

The accident occurred at about 05:40 local time (GMT 2340) on the Balykchy-Ananyevo-Karakol highway in the Issyk-Kul region, said the press service of the Main Directorate for Road Safety of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

An investigation is underway.