TWO weeks after Pietermaritzburg grandmother, Madhumathie Bunwarie, was killed, police investigations have found that the car battery was not thrown from the bridge but was from a vehicle which had been involved in an accident on the opposite side of the road.
Bunwarie, 62, of Mountain Rise, her husband, Shakthi, and two other relatives had been travelling along the N3 highway near the Pavilion Shopping Centre on September 29, when tragedy struck.
They had been returning to their home after attending her uncle’s funeral at the Verulam Crematorium.
The grandmother of two was seated in the front passenger seat, when the battery crashed through the windscreen.
She had sustained head injuries and died before she could arrive at the hospital. At the time it was reported that the battery had been thrown from the bridge
Captain Elizabeth Squires, the Westville police communications officer, said a witness had come forward and said that the battery had flown out from a vehicle which had been involved in an accident on the opposite side of the highway.
She said the witness had told police he was travelling in the same direction but was in front of the Bunwarie family.
“The witness said a serious accident had just occurred on the opposite side of the road, and that due to the impact of the accident, the battery had flown from the vehicle, narrowly missing the witness but unfortunately hitting the car behind him.”
Squires said a detective contacted all the neighbouring police stations to establish if any accident had been reported, but no reports had been made.
“He then decided to engage with the tow trucks that normally stand-off in the vicinity of the accident. He was successful in locating the driver of the breakdown service that towed the vehicle away.
“He had been informed that the injured occupant was taken to hospital for treatment. The detective has made contact with the family of the injured person, and it was established that the driver is in a critical condition at a local hospital,” she said.
Colonel Robert Netshiunda, a provincial police spokesperson, confirmed the information that was provided by Squires.
Bunwarie's family has been notified of the new developments in the case.