By Luvuyo Mjekula
A resident of the police barracks in Somerset Street says she and fellow dwellers were fortunate to escape without harm after a cement truck drove into the building at the weekend, razing one of the flats to the ground.
The accident claimed the life of the truck driver.
Onlookers told Grocott’s Mail that the truck, carrying a full load of concrete mix, drove down Lucas Avenue, between the Albany Museum and Eden Grove, at high speed before smashing into the police barracks, destroying one of the residences and ripping live power cables.
A resident of the barracks, Bulelwa Zani, said it was by sheer luck that none of the residents of the building were injured in the accident.
She explained that she was startled by a loud bang while taking a bath that Saturday morning. Thinking it was the stove exploding, she went to investigate. “It was pitch black in the passage, and the next thing I saw was a neighbour’s young boy jumping into the passage. Luckily, he was not in the room that was hit by the truck; he was in the opposite room,” said Zani.
She said a mother who was doing laundry in the back with her little child was also lucky.
While speaking to Grocott’s Mail, Zani was busy removing her belongings from the residence.
She said they had been instructed to evacuate the building because it was feared it could collapse when pulled by a tow truck. Her flat had cracks, and the whole building was left in darkness after the truck damaged the electricity infrastructure.
“We were shocked because it sounded like there was an explosion and a fire. I am still shaking,” she said.
A woman believed to be the resident of the affected flat stood next to the scene, visibly upset. She could be heard saying: “I stood here and watched the truck smashing into my room.”
A part of Somerset Street had to be closed to traffic for hours as workers of a towing company worked to pull the truck out. Police cordoned off the scene.
Meanwhile, following the fatal truck crash, Makhanda police have opened a culpable homicide case.
According to a statement from the police, at about 9:45 am on Saturday, 9 March, members of Grahamstown police station received a complaint of an accident in Somerset Street.
“Upon arrival it was found that a cement truck drove into the Somerset Street barracks. The driver of the truck, a 43-year-old man, was declared dead on the scene,” said police spokesperson Captain Marius McCarthy.
McCarthy confirmed that a case of culpable homicide has been opened by Grahamstown Saps, and an investigation is underway.
