The driver, who lost control of the vehicle heading down in the direction of Wilderness, and his two passengers, sustained minor injuries. All three were taken to hospitals in George. The two passengers were hitch-hikers.
The truck was en route to Port Elizabeth with a load it collected from the Mossel Bay harbour earlier that morning.
According to the owner of the truck, Mr Gillaumé Fourie, of G Fourie Transport in George, the driver lost control and hit the breaks, causing the vehicle to slide and overturn - spilling most of the fresh sardines across the two lanes heading to Wilderness. Some of the fish also landed on the river bank.
The local traffic department, police, ER24, Metro Emergency Services and the George and Eden Fire brigades were quick on the scene to attend to the injured and to divert the morning traffic to the Saasveld pass.
Vehicles heading in the direction of Wilderness that were already in the pass and were small enough, could turn around at the concrete barricades above the Kaaimans River and take the alternative route through Saasveld. Both lanes in the pass were closed and vehicles were directed to the Saasveld Road from the traffic circle at the old Rademarcher's site.
One lane was opened for traffic just before 12:00 with a stop-go system in place. It took the George and Eden Fire brigades and a clean-up team from Sanral hours to clean the slippery road after the diesel spill. The pass was only reopened at about 18:00 after J&B Towing removed the truck.
Eden District Council Environmental Health practitioners were also on the scene to monitor the removal of the sardines which will be discarded under supervision.
Shortly after the truck overturned in Kaaimans, further chaos ensued not far from there when a Roelcor Meat truck, headed for Wilderness, overturned on Whytes Road (an extension of the Saasveld Road) just after 08:00.
Fresh sardines were spilled across the two lanes heading to Wilderness. Photo: Llewellyn Appelby
ARTICLE: LIZETTE DA SILVA, GEORGE HERALD JOURNALIST
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