FIVE PEOPLE SAVED WHEN THEIR TRUCK WAS SWEPT FROM THE HIGH-PRESSURE WATER BRIDGE
Nelspruit: 16 February 2023 – With heavy rains still pouring in most areas of Mpumalanga, motorists and pedestrians are warned to avoid overflowing low-lying bridges and river banks as they might be easily swept away.
Five workers contracted to Transnet narrowly survived as they escaped death when their truck was swept away whilst trying to cross the bridge at Schuilspruit dam in Amersfoort this morning, Thursday 16 February 2023 at about 08h00 am.
According to information, the five workers, one female and four males of which two were inside the truck and three on the truck’s rooftop were rescued by the police and other stakeholders including Emergency Medical Services, the Fire Department and other locally based community structures. With such warnings spreading like wildfire, people are still trying their luck and trying to cross the bridge.
Also read: Floods – National State of Disaster Declared
Immediately after the five were rescued, police and other stakeholders rendered assistance to a motorist from Rustenburg who also got stuck with his bakkie at about 12h45 this afternoon. He was safely saved.
Community members are once more reminded that flowing water applies pressure on contact points, the higher the speed, the more the pressure. Motorists just drive in without walking the terrain so to determine the pressure, police warn motorists and pedestrians that the best way to determine water pressure is not to take a risk at all and stay away.
The Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela has expressed her disappointment that after numerous warnings issued, people still gamble with their lives. “Important appointments can always be rescheduled rather than honouring them at the expense of your one precious life” said the General.
