Mhlaba Memela

Mhlaba Memela

Two women, one of them pregnant, and a four-year-old child were killed on the N3 freeway in a hit-and-run accident on Saturday.

It is alleged the women and the child were crossing the busy highway near the Midmar Dam off-ramp in Howick in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands when they were knocked down.

Netcare 911 spokesman Chris Botha said yesterday that paramedics had reported that the two women and the child were severely mutilated.

"It was an extremely horrific scene. Both women seemed to be in their twenties. They might have been hit by a truck because of the condition they were found in," Botha said.

Paramedics said the remains of a foetus were also found at the scene.

Senior Superintendent Henry Budhram said police were investigating three charges of culpable homicide.

"It appears that the vehicle knocked down the first woman and the child while the pregnant one seemed to have been hit as she tried to rescue the two.

"All the three victims died on the scene.

"The victims' names are not yet known at this stage. We're currently trying to trace their relatives," Budhram said.

Meanwhile in a separate accident, a cyclist was killed when he lost control of his bike along Botanic Gardens Road in Durban yesterday.

An eyewitness said the bike veered out of control on the bend and slammed into a Fiat Uno.

The cyclist was flung off the bike and landed on a busy road.

ER24 spokesman Derrick Banks said a Citi Golf also travelling along the road could not stop in time and drove over the cyclist.

"The deceased was trapped underneath the Golf."

The metro fire department had to use airbags to elevate the car to remove the dead cyclist.

"Paramedics declared the cyclist dead on the scene," added Banks.