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9 die as taxi, bakkie collide
18/08/2007 21:07 - (SA)
Durban - Nine people died in collision between a mini-bus taxi and a bakkie on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast late on Saturday afternoon, police and paramedics said.
Police spokesperson Superintendent Zandra Hechter said that the details of the crash at the resort town of Southbroom were not immediately available.
She said initial reports from the accident scene indicated that the driver of the north-bound bakkie had lost control after a tyre apparently burst.
She said the bakkie then went across the road striking another oncoming bakkie on the side before colliding head on with the minibus taxi.
The occupants of the minibus taxi were returning home from a church service. Initial reports indicated that 16 people were trapped in the taxi.
Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said that the local fire brigade were on scene attempting to extract the injured.
He said that eight had died on scene and that one patient died one the way to hospital.
The injured were being ferried by Netcare 911 and the provincial Emergency Medical Rescue Services to Port Shepstone Provincial Hospital.
KwaZulu-Natal transport department spokesperson Colin Govender said there were eight people in the bakkie and at least 13 in the taxi.
Paramedics on scene report that seven from the bakkie have died and two from the taxi. One person from the taxi has been listed as critical.
Last month seven people were killed when a bus overturned on the R620 near the Riverbend Crocodile Farm near Southbroom.
In nearby Port Shepstone, another seven people were also killed last month when a bus collided with a fire engine that was responding to an emergency call. Three firemen were among the dead in that accident.
- SAPA
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