Highly respected former international cricket umpire Rudi Koertzen has died in a car accident.

Koertzen, who was part of the ICC's elite panel for many years, was killed along with three other people in a head-on collision near Riversdale on Tuesday morning.

His son, Rudi Koertzen Jr confirmed the news to Algoa FM.

According to his son, the 73-year-old Koertzen from Despatch in Nelson Mandela Bay was on his way back home from Cape Town after a golf weekend.

“He went on a golf tournament with some of his friends and they were expected to come back on Monday, but it seems they decided to play another round of golf”, Koertzen Jr was quoted by Algoa FM as saying.

Koertzen was part of the ICC's elite panel from 2002 until he retired in 2010 and during his illustrious career he officiated in 331 international matches, which was a record until his retirement.

His record has since been broken by Pakistan's Aleem Dar.  Along with Dar and West Indies' Steve Bucknor, Koertzen was one of three umpires to stand in over 100 Tests.