Five people, including a baby, were wiped out in an early morning crash between a car and a passenger bus on the N1 on Friday, Western Cape Traffic Services have confirmed.

The collision, which took place at about 01:00, occurred on the Beaufort West side of Leeu Gamka, spokesperson Kenny Africa said.

“According to eyewitnesses, the BMW overtook a number of vehicles in the face of oncoming traffic and collided head on with the bus,” he said.

The car’s occupants – two women, two men and the baby – were killed. Two of the bus passengers were injured.

The affected lane was closed until 04:30 and has been reopened to traffic.