News24 | Six dead in North West R49 head-on collision as Easter weekend death toll rises

??Six people died in a head-on collision on the R49 road between Zeerust and Kopfontein Port of entry in the North West on Sunday. (Paul Fleet/Getty Images)

Six people died in a head-on collision on the R49 road between Zeerust and Kopfontein Port of entry in the North West on Sunday.

The North West department of community safety and transport management spokesperson, Charles Matlou, said the accident left four people in one of the vehicles dead, while two of the three occupants from the other vehicle survived and were taken to a nearby hospital with serious injuries.

"However, one of the survivors succumbed this morning [Monday], bringing the total number of the deceased to six," he said.

Matlou said this brought the number of road accident fatalities to just below 50.

READ | Easter weekend road death toll reaches 26, hundreds arrested for drunk driving

He said the crash was the second major accident in the province since the Easter holidays joint law enforcement operations started on 20 March.

"A case of culpable homicide is being investigated by the Nietverdiend Police Station in the Ramotshere Moiloa Local Municipality," said Matlou.

He added that Wessels Morweng, community safety and transport management MEC, sends his condolences to the families of the deceased and a speedy recovery to those injured in the accident.

Meanwhile, in a separate accident in Mpumalanga on Thursday, six people died in a head-on collision just hours after a road safety campaign was launched.

The crash occurred between eNtokozweni (Machadodorp) and eMakhazeni (Belfast).

According to the provincial community safety, security and liaison department, five people were killed at the scene, while the sixth person died in hospital.