Traffic backs up on the N2 between Heidelberg and Riversdale as emergency services attend to the scene of a fatal collision between a minibus and a car on Tuesday morning.

A devastating head-on collision on the N2 outside Heidelberg on Tuesday claimed the lives of a 13-year-old boy, his brother, and their parents.

Heidelberg is a small town in the Western Cape's Garden Route region, roughly halfway between Swellendam and Riversdale.

The fifth victim was Michelé Lombard, 34, a beloved resident of an Oudtshoorn care centre for adults with intellectual disabilities.

She was travelling in the minibus when the freak crash occurred at 9.30am.