TWO of the victims of a horrific accident in which seven other people died near Bloemfontein at the weekend have been identified.

They are Lehlohonolo Duiker and his lover Francina Kotela.

Their car collided head-on with another carrying seven people on the Petrusburg road last Saturday night.

Duiker, a Mangaung socialite and an employee of the South African Airways at Bloemfontein Airport, and Kotela of Kimberley were travelling to Bloemfontein from the direction of Jacobsdaal.

Seven others, who all died, were travelling to Jacobsdal from Bloemfontein.

Fikile Qithi, a family spokesperson, said yesterday that the couple were from Kimberley, where they had gone to place a cross on their daughter's grave.

Qithi said the couple left Bloemfontein on Saturday and planned to return the same day.

"The family became alarmed when they did not hear from the couple on Sunday," he said. "We phoned them but they did not answer their cellphones.

"On Monday we started searching for them in mortuaries and at police stations.

"We found their bodies at the government mortuary in Bloemfontein. Police told us they were victims of an accident.