LISTEN: Motorists tell of massive 11-hour traffic jam in Ashburton
Scores of motorists stuck in a massive traffic jam in their cars and trucks have had to brave icy rain and a cold spell in Ashburton on Wednesday evening.
Vinay Surajpaul and his family from Phoenix have been locked in a kilometres-long traffic gridlock for almost 11 hours.
"I have been taking a walk and speaking to other drivers who are on their own in the car and naturally got the comfort of some with me, but I feel bad for those who are all alone on this traffic. Many of them are sleeping or walking about. There is nothing much else we can do."
They were on their way home from the Drakensberg when a truck overturned on the N3, blocking all lanes.
"We were on an outing to Drakensberg and we were coming back home at about 8:30pm - there was a traffic jam here at Ashburton and we heard via the WhatsApp groups there's been an accident.
"The problem is we have been here since 8:30pm and no one is telling us anything, no police, nobody has told us a thing. This morning we heard that this road is closed completely, so we have no idea what to do."
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They had to find ways to keep warm as temperatures tumbled to around 7-degrees Celcius on Wednesday night:
"I am travelling with my family, there is four of us in the car but it's a problem. We have ladies here and there is no bathroom facilities. It's cold, we are using the car heater to keep warm.
"The girls are coping with complaints naturally. I was lucky we had some food and some water, but that's going to run out shortly. We will be in a bit of a problem in a short while.”
Surajpaul's in fairly good spirits thanks to the company of his family.
He's made an appeal to traffic authorities.
"If there was communication, then we would understand, but there has been no communication at all. We are surrounded by trucks and cars, but it's been raining on and off.
"From what I understand, traffic is a long line. From what I heard on the radio is that traffic goes all the way down to Market Road offramp, where I think the police are turning cars away."
We've been told that the crash and subsequent jam at Ashburton has led to a huge buildup of vehicles on the M13, R103 and M7 on Thursday morning.
