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One killed, dozens injured as truck carrying farmworkers overturns
A single truck that was transporting farm workers overturned on the N1 at Kannetvlei between Worcester and De Doorns on Monday, 4 January 2021. “The incident was received at 17h58 and the first vehicles arrived on scene at 18h12. Breede Valley Fire Department with a major fire engine and a rescue vehicle from its Worcester Fire Station”, reported Deputy Chief Fire Officer Josephus J Pretorius. “No entrapments were on scene. The fire crews performed incident safety and stabilisation. They assisted EMS personnel with triage and patient care. A total of 38 patients were on scene: one adult female, code blue; six adult females, code yellow; eight code orange patients of which seven were female and one male; one adult female, code red; seven adult females, code green and 15 who refused transport. Multiple patient incidents remain a challenge especially when it is in areas away from the larger urban areas. Emergency vehicles and resources such as rescue vehicles, fire engines, ambulances etc responding takes time to arrive on scene and the turn around times of ambulances are delayed due to the distances involved. Radio communications in the mountains is always a challenge. Closing the main North South route for extended periods is always a challenge. There is a very high flow of traffic on the N1 and traffic control had to be dealt with from a JOC setup. Managing the family and public and onlookers remains a challenge and was dealt with through the JOC setup. The N1 was closed in both directions to ensure first responders safety. The patients were transported by various ambulances to Worcester Hospital. The incident was handed over to SAPS at 20h19.
Source: Josephus J Pretorius, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Breede Valley Municipality Photo: Internet |
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