3 killed as ambulance hits pedestrians
The Department of Health is launching an internal investigation into the death of three pedestrians.
|||Cape Town - The Department of Health is launching an internal investigation into the death of three pedestrians who were killed when an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) ambulance crashed into them in Elsies River.
Department of Health spokeswoman Marika Champion said their investigation would rely heavily on the direction police investigations take.
Three pedestrians, two women and a man, were killed when an EMS ambulance ploughed into them in Elsies River on Monday.
The ambulance was transporting a woman and her one-year-old child when it hit the pedestrians while allegedly trying to avoid a collision with another vehicle.
The pedestrians were declared dead on the scene.
The EMS staff involved in the incident were taken to N1 City and the woman and the child were rushed to Tygerberg Hospital. They are in a stable condition.
Champion said: "The department regrets this unfortunate incident and we are working closely with police to investigate the full details and cause of the accident. Our heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased and thoughts and prayers with staff and those patients in hospital and wish them a speedy and full recovery."
Last Tuesday a police van crashed into a group of pedestrians at Checkers Centre at Somerset Mall in Somerset West.
Four people were injured, one of them critically, when the incident occurred. Police are investigating a case of reckless and negligent driving.
The provincial traffic department said on Tuesday morning that pedestrian deaths account for at least half of all road-related deaths in the Western Cape.
Cape Argus