Holiday ends in Kloof crash
2008-12-11
A MOTORCYCLING holiday for a group of Germans ended in near tragedy last Thursday, after one of the tourists plunged almost one hundred metres down the mountain slope in Bain’s Kloof Pass. The group had been in South Africa for a pharmaceutical conference. When this ended, eight of them decided to stay on, and explore South Africa by motorbike. On Thursday the group set off from Stellenbosch on the back roads through Franschhoek, Villiersdorp and eventually Bain’s Kloof. While descending on the pass, the sun blinded one of the riders and he plunged down a cliff. Dieter Haulena from Nuremberg, Germany, was trapped behind a rock with leg and neck injuries. Ideally the emergency services would have liked to have had the assistance of a helicopter to rescue Haulena, but the late afternoon circumstances did not allow for this. Rescue workers thus first stabilised Haulenas condition, before continuing with the arduous task of bringing him up the steep cliff to the road. He was transferred to Paarl MediClinic were his condition was declared serious but satisfactory. It is uncertain whether his motorcycling friends continued their journey through South Africa. This part of Bains Kloof is renowned for vehicle accidents, and the remnants of other wrecks could be seen near that of Haulenas.
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