claimed lives of our employees and patients
23 November 2006
North West MEC for Health, Ms Nomonde Rasmeni, was this morning still trying
to get to terms with what happened. "We learned from the accident report that
two of our staff members, the driver Mr Galeboe and a student nurse Ms Leshope,
died instantly. Unfortunately two of our patients who were being transported
also died. The other two patients sustained serious injuries and were
transferred back to Klerksdorp while five adults and four children, including
our escort nurse Ms Agnes Mogapi, are admitted at Vryburg Hospital with
fractures and minor injuries. This means that a total of nine patients
survived," said the visibly hurt MEC Rasmeni.
The minibus was carrying in total 15 passengers. The Department was since
last night busy assisting affected families with transport to visit their
injured relatives.
"It is hard for us as a Department to accept this accident since it robbed
us of our patients and employees. Our deepest condolences go to the affected
families. We do expect accidents during this time of the season. It is,
however, too difficult for us if accidents affect our own resources since they
are the ones we use for emergency rescue services in time of accidents. The
Department is heavily burdened by accidents during this time of the season and
our resources are stretched."
"We urge our people to be vigilant on the road during this season of
festivities. The slogan of 'arrive alive' must prevail over other priorities
that we might want to rush to because it is better to arrive late than not to
arrive at all," warned MEC Rasmeni.
The Department still awaits a technical report of the accident from the
police.
Contact:
Zakes Molala
Acting Departmental Spokesperson
Tel: (018) 387 5830
Fax: (018) 387 5830
E-mail: lmolala@nwpg.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Health, North West Provincial Government
23 November 2006
Source: North West Provincial Government (http://www.nwhealth.gov.za)
