The Star
Toddler Liam Richardson was critically injured when a wall collapsed on top of him after a car crashed into his familys garden in Trichy Road in Pietermaritzburg. Photo: Shan Pillay
Durban – A two-year-old boy was playing in the front garden of his Trichy Road home in Raisethorpe, Pietermaritzburg, at the weekend when a car smashed through the precast boundary wall, causing it to collapse on top of him, leaving him critically injured.
Liam Richardson was being treated at the Midlands Medical Centre for a fractured skull, a blood clot on the brain and cuts and bruises. His father, Jonathan Richardson, said on Sunday doctors were uncertain of the extent of the toddler’s brain injury.
Richardson said he heard a screech and saw a white car come through the wall on Saturday afternoon.
Neighbour Shanuka Hiralaal said she had been in the Richardson garden minutes before. As she made her way home, she saw the car “flying down the road”. But the driver did not even brake, she said.
Hiralaal said
another car had crashed into her house a few years back and other residents in the road had had similar experiences.
A two-year-old child was rushed to hospital in a serious condition, when this car crash landed in the lawn in front of his home in Trichy Road. Photo: Shan Pillay
The Star
Police spokesman Thulani Zwane said two suspects had been arrested for drunk driving since neither would admit who was driving.
A case of reckless and negligent driving was being investigated.
In a separate accident five people died when two cars collided on the N2 between the Kingsburgh and Umgababa off-ramps on Sunday. One of the cars exploded, and all four occupants burnt to death.
“A VW Golf is suspected of having made a U-turn when a speeding Polo crashed into it, bursting into flames,” said Road Traffic Inspectorate spokeswoman Zinhle Mngomezulu. The driver of the Golf, who was trapped in the wreckage, also died. Four people sustained critical injuries and were taken to the Entabeni and Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central hospitals. One of the injured had to be airlifted.
In an accident on the R102, near King Shaka International Airport on Saturday, a cyclist was killed when he was knocked over by a bakkie.
KwaZulu-Natal Cycling president Greg Stedman said it was sad the accident had happened on the day KZN Cycling, the provincial transport department and the Road Traffic Inspectorate had embarked on a road safety campaign
Zwane said no one had been arrested, but a culpable homicide case was being investigated.
The Mercury
