One of the vehicles crossed the centre median, resulting in the crash.
Chaos erupted on a Durban highway when a fully loaded taxi slammed head‑on into a light motor vehicle. Picture: ALS Paramedics.
Chaos erupted on a Durban highway when a fully loaded taxi slammed head‑on into a light motor vehicle, leaving the car’s driver dead and 14 passengers injured.
The head-on accident occurred on the M19 between Bevis Road and Otto Volek Road in the Pinetown area on Sunday.
Head-on crash
ALS Paramedics spokesperson Garrith Jamieson said emergency services personnel responded to the crash just after 9:20pm.
“Paramedics arrived on the scene to find chaos and carnage as they found that a fully loaded taxi had collided head-on with a light motor vehicle. Immediately, more ambulances, Advanced Life Support Paramedics, and the eThekwini Fire Department were dispatched to assist at the multiple-casualty scene.
“Paramedics triaged the scene and found that the light motor vehicle driver, a male believed to be in his forties, had sustained fatal injuries, and unfortunately, there was nothing Paramedics could do for him, and he was declared deceased on the scene,” Jamieson said.
Injured
He added that several others were also injured in the accident.
Approximately fourteen people from the taxi had sustained various injuries ranging from moderate to serious, and once stabilised on the scene, they were all transported to various Durban Hospitals for further care that they required.
“At this stage, it is believed one of the vehicles crossed the centre median resulting in this crash,” Jamieson said.
The South African Police Service (Saps) were on scene and will be investigating further.
Fiery crash
Last week, two men were burned to death after a head‑on collision between two bakkies erupted into flames in a late-night crash.
The accident occurred on the M1 Higginson Highway in Chatsworth late Tuesday night, leaving paramedics powerless to save them.
Jamieson said emergency personnel responded to the crash just before 11pm.
“As Paramedics approached the vehicle, the vehicle burst into flames, and unfortunately, there was nothing Paramedics could do except wait for the eThekwini Fire Department. Once the fire had been extinguished, Paramedics assessed the patients; however, both men had sustained fatal injuries and were declared deceased on the scene,” Jamieson said.
The cause of the accident is being investigated.
