EKURHULENI - A bus driver was killed instantly when his bus smashed into the rear of a stationary articulated truck carrying a large container on the N3 southbound before the N17 split in Germiston in Ekurhuleni at about 9.30pm on Friday night, a city official said.

City of Ekurhuleni emergency services spokesman William Ntladi said on Saturday that according to information from the scene, the bus driver was killed while he was on his way to pick up passengers in the Germiston CBD for a trip to Marble Hall in Limpopo.

The driver was declared dead by paramedics. "Apparently, the bus came from behind and the driver didn’t notice that the truck was stationery. As a result, he crashed onto the rear of the truck and was killed instantly," he said in a statement.

Germiston central fire station rescue personnel assessed the situation and "noticed that the bus driver was motionless and trapped behind the steering wheel". The rescue team used specialised hydraulic equipment, the “jaws of life”, to free the body from the wreckage. The truck driver was not injured.

Four lanes of the freeway were affected and had to be closed for the duration of the operation, leaving only one lane open to traffic, Ntladi said.