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Car smashes into Scandal shanty

BENIDA PHILLIPS STAFF REPORTER

A SHANTY owner in Scandal, Galeshewe, was lucky that he wasn’t at home when a car crashed into his shanty yesterday.

The man is, however, devastated as many of his belongings were destroyed in the incident, while his shanty is also severely damaged.

According to eyewitnesses, the driver of a silver Hyundai i30 apparently suffered an epileptic attack while driving and the car slammed into the shanty after he veered off the road.

Residents in the area gathered around the shanty after the accident. The silver vehicle was “parked” in the middle of the shanty, which was badly “torn apart”.

A bed, as well as some bedding, had been pushed out of the back of the shanty during the collision and a kitchen cupboard was lying on top of the bonnet of the car.

A huge stone was also lying on the roof of the car and part of the yard fence was left flattened on the ground.

The owner of the shanty was not inside his home when the incident happened.

One of the witnesses said they heard a loud “crashing sound” and they found the driver behind the wheel of the car busy suffering from an apparent epileptic attack.

“We heard a loud noise and initially thought that it was a truck that was involved in an accident. We saw a car drive right through the shanty, which is located close to the side of the road,” the witness said.

“The fence of the shanty was totally damaged and all the furniture from inside was outside of the shanty.

“We rushed over and saw a man having a fit inside the car. We tried to open the door but failed to open it as the car had locked automatically.

“The owner of the shanty also came running and we were relieved when we saw him alive. The owner had been at the neighbour's shanty and there was luckily nobody inside the shanty at the time of the accident. It could have been a terrible accident if there had been someone inside the shanty.”

The witness added that an ambulance arrived shortly after the crash and the paramedics managed to get the driver out of the car.

“The ambulance arrived and the paramedics helped the man. One of the windows had to be broken in order to get the door open. The man was still having an epileptic attack when the paramedics got to him,’ he said.

He added that the driver’s wife had, “fortunately”, called during the incident.

“We found the phone of the victim but were unable to contact anyone as the phone required a code to unlock it. Luckily, the wife of the victim called and we informed her about the incident.”

The wife of the driver, Dorcas Bonokwane, said her husband was returning from a doctor’s appointment when the incident occurred.

“My husband had been complaining about suffering terrible headaches since February this year. He has been telling me and I convinced him to go to the doctor. He went to the doctor this morning. When I called him to get an update on what diagnosis the doctor made, I was told that he had been in an accident. I then rushed to the scene and he was taken to hospital as he was still unconscious. This is the first time this has happened,” said Bonokwane.

She added that she had exchanged contact details with the owner of the shanty in order to assist with rebuilding the structure.

“We had a conversation and we have exchanged information. We will assist the owner to rebuild his shanty,” Bonokwane said.

NEWS

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2021-05-07T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-05-07T07:00:00.0000000Z

http://diamondfieldsadvertiser.pressreader.com/article/281492164187808

African News Agency