A man is fighting for his life in the Netcare St Augustine’s Hospital after his car was struck by a fuel tanker in the intersection of Sydney and Bayhead Roads near the new bridge late last night.
It is alleged that the man had been travelling away from the city and had attempted to jump the traffic signal in his luxury German sedan, as he entered the junction his vehicle was struck by a fuel tanker bound for the harbour. The force of the impact saw the heavy goods vehicle pushing the crushed car nearly fifty metres before jack-knifing and coming to a halt.
Paramedics arrived at the scene to find the critically injured man trapped in the crumpled remains of his car. Advanced Life Support Paramedics managed to climb into the wrecked car in an effort to initiate the life saving care he required.
The man was intubated and placed on a manual ventilator while eThekwini Metro firefighters used hydraulic rescue equipment to cut the twisted metal of the car. Firefighters and Paramedics struggled for over an hour to cut the man free. Once he was carefully extricated from the vehicle he was rushed to the hospital for the care he required.
His condition remains critical.
The truck driver was uninjured in the smash and the fuel tanker did not spill it’s payload.
