DURBAN - A German tourist was left injured when the vehicle he was travelling in rolled down Sani Pass.
At 4.30pm on Wednesday, Underberg Emergency Medical Services (UEMS) manager Kate Bodmann said they had received a call from a local tour company alerting them that a vehicle had rolled down the iconic Sani Pass switchbacks.
Bodmann said the tourist, an 80-year-old man, travelling alone in the vehicle, had rolled approximately 50m down an extremely steep embankment after the road partially gave way on a corner of the pass. The vehicle, fortunately, came to rest in a dry river bed halfway down the mountain.
“The driver of the vehicle somehow managed to free himself from the wreckage and was assisted up to the roadway by two good Samaritans passing by,” Bodmann said.
“On arrival, UEMS paramedics assessed the gentleman. Miraculously he’d only sustained minor injuries and declined hospital transport.”
Bodmann said rescue services had tried to recover the vehicle but due to the terrain and steepness, it proved to be difficult.
On Thursday, Bodmann said the vehicle was still being recovered. They had not managed to get it out yet.
According to Mountain Passes South Africa, Sani Pass is the mother of all South African mountain passes. Statistically and in every sense, it out distances, out climbs, and outperforms all its competitors with consummate ease to have become the most iconic gravel pass in SA.
Sani Pass is situated between KwaZulu-Natal and Lesotho. The pass was built circa 1950 and remains a challenging drive in 4x4 vehicles with all the drama, scenery, bad weather and treacherous conditions expected of a pass with a summit altitude of 2876m ASL.
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