Saturday Star reports that a woman who heard the downed Netcare 911 helicopter explode in a farm field has asked God to erase the terrible images of the remnants of the crash from her mind.
Marietjie Warden was among the first people to arrive at the field after the emergency helicopter crashed and killed the five people on board. Those who died were Dr Kgopotso Rudolph Mononyane, an anaesthetist, Dr Curnick Siyabonga (Sia) Mahlangu, a cardiothoracic surgeon, Mpho Xaba, a specialist theatre nurse for cardiothoracic and transplant, all from Netcare Milpark Hospital, Sinjin Joshua Farrance, an advanced life support paramedic at Netcare 911, and the pilot of the helicopter, Mark Stoxreiter, who worked for National Airways Corporation. The healthcare workers were part of an ECMO (extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation) team, on their way to try to save a patient in Hillcrest. The crash happened in the Winterton area near the N3 between Colenso and Ladysmith. “We all presume it was one of the fuel tanks,” Warden said, describing Thursday’s tragedy on their farm, Kopleegte, beside the N3. Earlier, she and her husband had heard a first “big bang” while sitting quietly in their farmhouse. Warden called the emergency services while they were on the way. When they reached the crash site, neighbours and motorists from the N3 were already there. Warden said she noticed the tail, doors and blades of the aircraft strewn about. “Then there was this terrific bang,” she related. The SA Civil Aviation Authority (Sacaa) said they have yet to determine the cause of the crash. Witnesses claimed the helicopter broke apart in mid-air.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Duncan Guy and Sameer Naik at Independent Media
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