Some 23 passengers suffered various injuries when a bakkie they were traveling in veered off the road and overturned multiple times, leaving passengers scattered across the road.

The accident took place along R34 outside Gluckstadt in Zululand on Sunday night.

KwaZulu Private Ambulance Service spokesperson, Craig Botha, said they were met with a chaotic and harrowing scene.

The bakkie was reportedly transporting a passengers home from a soccer match.

“Paramedics immediately initiated a mass casualty triage protocol to manage the high volume of patients.

Following a rapid and thorough assessment, it was determined that six occupants had sustained serious injuries, requiring advanced life support interventions on-site. An additional 17 occupants sustained various minor injuries.”

Botha said that the complexity of the scene required coordination between multiple responding units to stabilize the 23 patients before they were transported to various hospitals for definitive secondary care,.

He said SAPS members were present at the scene and will conduct a full investigation into the cause of the accident.

During the rescue and recovery operation, traffic on the R34 was significantly impacted, reduced to a single lane to ensure the safety of emergency crews in the area.

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