7 dead after ambulance crashes into car carrying 'stolen' sheep

CAPE TOWN, South Africa

 Seemingly mistaking the flashing lights of an ambulance for a police van, the driver of a car transporting six occupants and seven sheep made a sudden U-turn.

This resulted in the ambulance crashing into the vehicle, which was allegedly carrying sheep that had been stolen.

The horror crash in the Northern Cape on Thursday morning claimed the lives of the seven occupants of the car, while seven sheep carcasses were discovered in the car, Arrive Alive reported.

Two people in the ambulance were injured.

Investigators from the Road Traffic Management Corporation are investigating the cause of the crash on the N4 between Kuruman and Khathu.

“The occupants of the sedan had apparently stolen sheep and they panicked when they saw an approaching ambulance,” said the RTMC said in a statement.

“The occupants of the sedan had apparently stolen sheep and they panicked when they saw an approaching ambulance.

“The driver of the sedan attempted to do an illegal U-turn on the road, resulting in the ambulance crashing into the vehicle.”

A case of culpable homicide will be investigated by the South African Police Service in Kathu.

Meanwhile, two people suffered moderate injuries after the vehicle they were travelling in crashed into a house on Jackal Road in Waterloo, Verulam, this afternoon.

The driver of a Ford Focus explained that while travelling on Jackal Road, he avoided a child who ran across the road.

He later claimed that it was not a child and may have been a dog or a chicken that caused him to lose control of the vehicle, drive through a boundary wall and hit the house.

The occupants of the residence were not injured. The Ford Focus was extensively damaged.

The 42-year-old driver and his 19-year-old passenger suffered moderate injuries.