a jackknifed truck. A truck travelling on Kenilworth Road in Overport jackknifed, damaging power cables and caused a power outage in the road and surrounding areas. Picture: Social Media
Durban - A truck and trailer jackknifed at the intersection of Kenilworth and Brickfield Roads in the Overport area after knocking down light poles and causing a power outage in and around the area on Monday morning.
Dees Ahmed, who is a Ward 31 Committee member and community activist, said he arrived at the scene after the accident, which occurred at about 5:30 am.
Ahmed said the truck was travelling on Brickfield Road before turning into Kenilworth Road. He described the road as quite steep and narrow. He said he believes that trucks with trailers and other big vehicles are not meant to use that road.
He said the truck went up the road but then it could not continue and it started rolling and four street light poles were knocked down before the vehicle jacknifed blocking off the road.
“The danger here was all the cables came loose; everything was on the floor. Just as well it was early in the morning; there was not much movement with traffic and pedestrians,” said Ahmed.
According to Ahmed, there were no reported injuries.
However, he said residents were coming out of their homes to see what was happening, and they had to warn them that there were live wires on the road.
Ahmed said the truck was removed much later, and within an hour, all services were on the scene, including Metro Police, who closed off the road, and the Electricity Department. He said the residents in the vicinity do not have electricity, and he did not know when it will be restored.
Ward 31 councillor Remona Mckenzie said the department is in the process of getting the equipment needed to do the repairs.
“There is a power outage due to this incident… residents in Kenilworth Road and surrounding areas, like the Musgrave area, are affected,” she said.
“It’s quite unfortunate because I don't think trucks should actually be travelling on that road,” she said, adding that the driver may have been using GPS, which showed him the fastest route to reach his destination.
Mckenzie added that she has in the past raised the issue with the City for road markings to be painted and speed humps installed in Kenilworth Road, among other suggestions.
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