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Soccer fans park on highway

2010-06-17 10:18
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Buks Viljoen, Beeld

Nelspruit - The N4 highway near the Mbombela soccer stadium outside Nelspruit looked like a parking area on Wednesday, when soccer fans simply parked on the side of the highway and walked to the stadium.

The traffic officers controlling access from the N4 to the World Cup stadium were so overwhelmed by the motorists ignoring their instructions not to park there, that they later gave up.

There were two access routes from the N4 to the stadium where Chile and Honduras played on Wednesday.

Only buses and FIFA approved taxis were allowed to drive up to the stadium.

Fans were instructed to use park-and-ride points in the city, but about 500 cars simply stopped next to the highway.

They had to walk the 2km to the stadium.

"We tried hard to chase them away but there were simply too many people who stopped here at the same time," said a traffic official.

"We then instead tried to get the crowd of people safely across the N4 as some almost ended up in front of oncoming traffic."

The authorities were planning to use the local organising committee's meeting on Thursday to discuss how to stop cars from parking next to the N4 for the remaining three games in Nelspruit.

"There will definitely be more traffic and police officers at the N4. In future, we will definitely tow away the cars of offenders," said police spokesperson Captain Leonard Hlathi.
 

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