Central SA
Reddersburg: Post-mortems of N6 bus victims underway at Welkom mortuary─── ZENANDE MPAME 12:00 Fri, 07 Mar 2025
Post-mortems of ten people who died in the N6 accident involving a bus and a truck will be conducted at the Welkom Government Mortuary on Friday (7/3).
The Free State Department of Health said it plans to conduct all the post-mortems on Friday. They are also busy to trace and notify the next of kin, and the identification processes will begin soon.
The collision was a side-swipe head-on impact on the N6 between Reddersburg and Smithfield on Wednesday morning (5/3), claiming the lives of ten people, including a two-year-old, and 27 injured people were hospitalised. The drivers of the truck and the bus survived the crash.
“Forensic Pathology Services collected the bodies of the deceased at the scene using a state-of-the-art mobile freezer for safe storage and to facilitate post-mortem examinations,” said Free State Department of Health spokesperson Mondli Mvambi.
“Of the 22 patients admitted at the Stoffel Coetzee hospital in Smithfield, 18 have been discharged, and the remaining four were transferred to Pelonomi Tertiary Hospital for CT scans.
“Of the five initially admitted at Pelonomi, two have been discharged, while three are awaiting surgery.” Anyone seeking information about their relatives involved in the accident can contact the Free State Forensic Pathology Services in Bloemfontein on 051 430 2954.
The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has sent a team of crash investigators to probe the cause of the accident. “We expect a preliminary report to be ready by the end of the week into the accident,” said RTMC chief communication officer Simon Zwane.
“We further urge all road users to exercise extreme caution when travelling in the early hours of the morning. Statistics show most accidents take place before dawn.”
The Free State police are also investigating a culpable homicide case into the accident. On the day, the N6 was closed to facilitate the extrication of trapped individuals from the bus using the jaws of life and to prevent secondary accidents from passing motorists.
Free State Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae visited the accident survivors in Pelonomi. Photo: Facebook/Free State Provincial Government
“I am saddened by the loss of lives from this terrible accident,” said Free State Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae. “Road safety remains a priority, and as a government, we are intensifying our efforts to curb road fatalities.”
“This accident was a painful reminder of the job at hand; the urgent need to intensify our road safety awareness campaigns,” she said during her visit to the accident survivors in Pelonomi.
