News24 | Ten killed, 5 injured in horror KZN taxi crash

Ten men have been killed and five others seriously to critically injured after a fully loaded taxi lost control around a bend and crashed into a tree on the MR 385 in Cato Ridge, KwaZulu-Natal.

Supplied/ALS Paramedics

• Ten men died and five others were seriously to critically injured after a fully loaded taxi lost control around a bend and crashed into a tree on the MR385, in Cato Ridge.
• ALS Paramedics described finding “total chaos and carnage” at the scene, with the eThekwini Fire Department and Durban metro police search and rescue having to use the Jaws of Life and hydraulic equipment to cut some of the deceased free.
• KwaZulu-Natal Transport MEC Siboniso Duma has assigned a road safety team to locate the families of the deceased and injured, working with the local taxi association.

Ten people have been killed in a horrific taxi accident on the MR 385 in Cato Ridge on Wednesday afternoon.

According to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport, a preliminary report suggests that the driver of the taxi lost control of the vehicle around a bend, hitting a tree.

ALS Paramedics said its ambulances were called to the crash at around 17:00, where they found “total chaos and carnage”.

Spokesperson Garrith Jamieson said paramedics found that a fully loaded minibus taxi had left the roadway and crashed into a tree, leaving several people dead and others trapped and injured.

“Immediately, more advanced life support ambulances together with advanced life support paramedics and the eThekwini Fire Department were dispatched to assist,” he said.

He added:

I can confirm that five occupants from the taxi have sustained various injuries ranging from serious to critical, and once they were stabilised on the scene, they were then rushed through to nearby hospitals for the urgent care that they required.

Jamieson said 10 men were declared dead at the scene.

The eThekwini Fire Department, together with the Durban Metro Police Service Search and Rescue Unit, had to use the Jaws of Life and other hydraulic equipment to cut some of the deceased free.

The road remained closed on Wednesday evening as the scene was still active.

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Jamieson said the exact events leading up to the crash are unknown.

KwaZulu-Natal transport department spokesperson Ndabezinhle Sibiya said MEC Siboniso Duma has assigned a team to locate the families of the deceased and injured, working with the local taxi association.

He said the department was saddened by the deaths, which came just a week after 13 people were killed in Mtubatuba in an accident involving a minibus taxi and a truck.