Eight dead in black weekend madness

EMERGENCY services in greater Zululand were stretched to the limit this weekend as a number of incidents left eight people dead.

Saturday was an especially long day for paramedics and firefighters who had to attend to the multiple fatal incidents across the district.

Hluhluwe death crash

Three people died and four were injured on Saturday morning in a crash in Ezibayeni near Hluhluwe.

While details are sketchy, the ZO can confirm that a red double-cab bakkie rolled down an embankment, killing two people and critically injuring three.

One sustained minor injuries.

A third person died on the scene a while later.

The Richards Bay Air Mercy Wing helicopter was dispatched to transport the two critical patients to hospital despite inclement weather.

Bus crushes car

Two men were killed in a horrific head-on collision between a bus and a car on Saturday morning on the old Matubatuba road near the Empangeni airfield.

Among the various policing and medical units who responded, members of the uMhlathuze Fire and Rescue team manoeuvred the Jaws of Life to remove the mangled bodies from the wreck of a Citi Golf.

The cause of the accident, which occurred shortly before 9am, remains unclear at this stage.

Bay stabbing

On Saturday night a man was declared dead after being stabbed in the heart and found in front of Medicross in Meerensee.

According to Richard Schouten of IPSS Medical Rescue, witnesses said the man was pushed off the back of a Hyundai bakkie.

‘He sustained a single stab wound to the left side of his chest, penetrating his heart,’ said Schouten.

It is not clear if he was already dead when thrown from the vehicle.

Speed kills

A high-speed accident at a major intersection in Richards Bay claimed the life of one person on Saturday night.

The sole occupant of the vehicle died after colliding with a tow truck at the corner of Saligna and North Central Arterial (John Ross College traffic lights) in Arboretum.

The driver of the tow truck was taken to hospital.

Death on duty

An employee was killed in an explosion at an Alton-based company in Richards Bay on Friday morning.

According to police, the 24-year-old was testing an air tank when it blew open under pressure.

The employee died at the scene and police have opened an inquest docket.

Near drowning

One person was taken to hospital on Saturday evening following yet another near drowning incident at Bay Hall, the second such incident in a week.

While details are still sketchy surrounding the circumstances of this latest incident, the ZO can confirm the person was stabilised on the scene by NSRI members and Netcare 911 paramedics before being taken to hospital.

Last week, two small children were saved in the same area by two Samaritans.

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