3 dead after police chases taxi

2008-12-29 18:11

Johannesburg - Three passengers were killed when a minibus taxi overturned while being pursued by police in Port Shepstone on Monday, KwaZulu-Natal police said.

Two police officers were patrolling the Port Shepstone central business district at 02:00 when they noticed a minibus taxi driving erratically and skipping two red lights, said Superintendent Zandra Wiid.

Police gave chase and pulled the minibus over. After questioning the driver, they came to believe that he was drunk.

The two police officers had called for a blood alcohol test when an unknown woman approached them. The woman told them she had been assaulted by her boyfriend following a quarrel.

While police were taking the woman's complaint, the driver of the minibus jumped back into his taxi and drove away.

Police began looking for the vehicle in the direction of Hibberdene. They were stopped by another woman who told them of an overturned taxi nearby.

On inspecting the taxi, which had overturned near the Umtwalume off-ramp, they found it to be the same which had earlier evaded them.

They found three passengers dead, two men and one women. The driver was injured and still in the taxi. He was taken to Port Shepstone hospital where he remains under police guard.

Wiid said the driver's injuries were not serious and that once he was released from the hospital, he would be charged with culpable homicide.

- SAPA