Involving Moving Truck
Reporter – Felicity Jooste
PHILIPPI:- A young scholar has died in a tragic accident on Govan Mbeki Road in Philippi, after a dangerous game of clinging to a moving vehicle went horribly wrong on Friday afternoon.
The incident occurred just after 1pm as a group of boys were walking home from school. According to witness accounts, several boys ran towards a moving truck in an attempt to jump onto it, a practice local residents describe as a common but deadly “game.”
Tragedy struck when one of the boys slipped while trying to climb onto the vehicle. He fell under the rear wheel of the truck, which drove over him, causing severe and catastrophic injuries.
Pozisa Maxaba, a resident of the Ramaphosa informal settlement who witnessed the event, stated the boy stepped too close to the wheels. “His legs were crushed,” she said. Despite the efforts of those at the scene, the child succumbed to his injuries and was declared dead before emergency services could save him.
Witnesses reported that the boy’s friends, who were also hanging onto the truck, were left traumatised, crying helplessly as they watched the incident unfold.
One shaken resident, who struggled to cope with what she had seen, said she was heartbroken for the mother who will now have to face the unimaginable loss of her child.
This devastating event has highlighted a recurring danger in the area, as residents revealed they often warn children to stop playing on the busy road and clinging to vehicles, but their pleas are frequently ignored for the sake of fun and excitement.
The scene was described by Pozisa Maxaba as “the most painful thing she has witnessed in years.”
Delft Shooting
Reports of a man, Denver Pietersen (45) that was shot dead in 2nd Mango, Delft early Sunday morning, just after 3 am.
He and his cousin took a friend half way, after a street bash, not far from home. According to the cousin, they saw lights from a bakkie and a male approached them with a firearm. The one cousin ran but the deceased had earphones in his ears and failed to hear the call to run and the suspect shot him 3 times.
