5 killed in KZN crashes

2008-04-21 14:07

Durban - Five people have died in crashes around KwaZulu-Natal, the provincial transport department said on Monday.

The road fatalities came as the province experienced heavy downpours overnight and on Monday morning.

Zinhle Mngomezulu said two people died in an accident on the N2 north bound freeway in KwaMbonambi at 08:30 on Monday.

A third person was seriously injured.

"It is alleged that a bakkie lost control on a bend and collided head-on with a tanker," she said.

Mngomezulu said the tanker driver was uninjured and the tank was empty at the time.

Another collision on Sunday night claimed the lives of three people, including a child, on the same N2 north bound freeway at Balgowan, outside Howick.

"It was a rear-end collision involving a bakkie and a Toyota Venture van. Four other passengers were also injured," she said.

Several other fender-benders were reported throughout the province.

Eight car, three taxi pile up

Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said 18 people were injured in a eight car, three taxi pile up in KwaMashu on Monday.

"The injured were taken to various hospitals, but there were no fatalities," he said.

Mngomezulu said in this pile-up, a taxi had lost control and went down an embankment, landing in a ditch.

ER24 spokesperson Derrick Banks said more than a dozen other accidents had been reported and that paramedics struggled to get to the accident scenes.

"Motorists were driving in the emergency lanes and many of them did not give way. We battled to get through traffic," he said.

Banks said rainy weather seemed to be the main cause of the many accidents coupled with defective traffic lights and human error.

Metro police said dozens of traffic lights had been defective throughout the city because of the rainy weather, but that pointsmen had been sent out to help the traffic flow.

- SAPA