Road rage believed to be at the helm of Durban crash

The horrific crash on the M4 south-bound near Blue Lagoon in Durban, which claimed the lives of six people, was believed to have been the result of road rage.

With varying reports on the incident circulating, it was alleged that four motor vehicles had been involved in the crash which took place on Saturday morning at about 1am.

After Metro police responded to a complaint, a chase reportedly ensued.

It was believed that the driver of a Mercedes Benz had allegedly sped off, drove through two red robots and then onto the M4, hitting two other vehicles, which then crashed into a Nissan Tiida.

A police source; however, told Rising Sun Chatsworth: “The occupant in Mercedes pulled out a firearm in Florida Road. Thereafter, the occupant in the Nissan Tiida chased him onto the M4 counter-flow. Both cars smashed into a Golf 1 and Golf 7. The Nissan Tida and Mercedes exploded”.

Rescue Care operations director Garrith Jamieson told The Citizen it was alleged that a vehicle had been travelling on the wrong side of the highway when the incident occurred.

“When paramedics arrived on the scene, they found two vehicles engulfed in flames and immediately called the Durban Fire Department to assist. Whilst fire fighters fought the blaze, Rescue Care paramedics stabilised two patients from the other two vehicles,” said Jamieson.

“Once the fire had been extinguished, paramedics assessed the occupants of both vehicles; however, they had unfortunately passed away and there was nothing further paramedics could do.”

He added that the two injured passengers were transported by to a nearby hospital for the further care that they required.

The M4 highway had been closed for several hours, whilst emergency personal worked to clear the scene.

On Sunday, the five of the victims who were killed in the crash were identified as Shaylan Moodley, 20, Sahish Daya, 20, Luke Naidoo, 20, and brothers, Kapil Juggath, 20, and Sanvir, 16.

The driver of the Nissan Tiida’s identity remained unknown due to the severity of burns sustained in the crash.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) urged motorists to be considerate, patient and responsible on the roads.

“… multiple crashes have been reported throughout the country. The predominant causes of the crashes continue to be human error with road users not obeying the rules of the road,” said RTMC CEO Advocate Makhosini Msibi.

“Let’s all work together to make our roads safe; and going ahead to the festive season, let us be more vigilant remembering that the road is a shared space and we all need to play our part,” Msibi added.