Death toll in KwaZulu-Natal storms rises to eight

The death toll in the KwaZulu-Natal storms has now reached eight, provincial government departments said on Wednesday.

“We can confirm that eight people were killed as a result of the floods yesterday. There are those that are still missing, so it is possible that this may rise,” acting MEC for cooperative governance Wesizwe Thusi was quoted as saying by News24.

The death toll could rise, he added.

Several incidents, including containers that fell from a truck on to a vehicle killing one person and a family being trapped in their home because of the heavy rainfall, in various parts of Durban were keeping emergency medical services busy in the province on Tuesday, paramedics said.

“An ambulance overturned, leaving two medical crew injured along the N2 in Umgababa, two taxis collided in Magabeni and several other distress calls,” ER24 spokesperson Werner Vermaak said in a statement.

ER24 spokesperson Ineke van Huyssteen said one person was killed and another sustained serious injuries after two shipping containers fell on top of the vehicle they were travelling in on Rotterdam Road in Bayhead in Durban.

She said when paramedics arrived on the scene at about 11am, they found a vehicle underneath two containers.

“Upon further assessment, they found two patients, both males, trapped inside the vehicle.

“Both patients had to be extricated with the jaws of life. Unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done for the one patient, and he was declared dead on the scene by another medical service. The other patient was transported to hospital by another medical service on scene,” Van Huyssteen said.

A policeman died, and another had to be extricated when a container struck their vehicle during the massive storm.

“In the Bayhead area, a container fell on to a police vehicle, killing the policeman inside. A second policeman had to be extricated from the vehicle,” according to Rescue Care’s Garrith Jamieson.

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