Johannesburg – One person died and 54 were injured in a 16-vehicle pileup near Bronkhorstspruit on Sunday, said emergency workers.

A truck and 14 cars piled into the back of another truck when thick smoke blew across the road from a grass fire raging in the area on Sunday afternoon, said Tshwane emergency management service spokesperson Johan Pieterse.

The vehicles appeared to have been travelling towards Pretoria at the time of the crash, said ER 24’s Chris Botha.

He said a man died in the crash. A critically injured woman had to be airlifted to hospital. The rest sustained injuries raging from serious to minor, and were stabilised on the scene before being taken to hospital.

SAPA