By the look of things, a violent tornado had swept through the town on Monday morning.

This was the scene at a busy intersection next to the Khoroni Hotel in Thohoyandou, after a runaway truck carrying a load of bricks and 11 assistants experienced mechanical problems that froze its brakes and caused it to reverse at high speed, destroying whatever was in its way. Traffic had to be diverted and used only one lane for about an hour, while traffic and emergency officials cleared the road.

The incident left two people seriously injured, a truck damaged beyond repair, a big electricity pole uprooted, and a busy bus stop a mangled wreck, before the truck came to a standstill next to a wall of a well-known shopping chain.

The driver of the fully laden truck, Mr Baldwin Mbambale, said it was around 11:00 when the incident happened. “I was on my way to deliver bricks, together with my assistants, when my truck experienced mechanical problems next to a car wash at a very busy, steep slope next to Khoroni Hotel. Before I realized what was happening, my truck was reversing and going at a very high speed,” he said.

Mbambale said he tried swerving it in order to avoid crashing into other vehicles, but some of his crew jumped off, thinking that it was going to crash. “I think they panicked, thinking the truck was going to crash, but they are the only ones who ended in hospital; the rest of the crew escaped unhurt. “Just imagine having to swerve and duck the heavy morning traffic. I cannot even explain how we came out unscathed in such an accident,” he said.

He said he has been with the company for almost two years now but has never experienced such an incident.

An eyewitness, who only identified himself as Reginald, said he was busy attending clients at his public phone business, when he heard a loud bang, only to realize that an accident had occurred. “Before I could figure out what was happening, I saw a truck reversing towards us at high speed. We had to dash for our dear lives,” he said. He said it was just through sheer luck that they escaped unhurt as the truck came and demolished their stall and flattened a bus stop some inches away from them. “Just have a look at the big electricity pole that was uprooted by the impact. What would have happened to human beings? We are just glad that God saved us and we are still alive,” he said.

Reginald said he was just worried that, instead of assisting them to collect whatever was left after the accident, people took the chance to loot his airtime and all his money in the confusion. “Where is ubuntu? Have we lost our senses that we do not even care for people in need? We are a lost nation,” he said.

The Khoroni intersection has become a hotspot for serious accidents. Not fewer than four serious accidents have occurred at the spot, with some with lives being lost.