Fire engulfs taxi and passengers in horror crash into truck on N3 in Pietermaritzburg Picture: Twitter / @_ArriveAlive
An unknown number of people have died following a horror crash involving nearly 10 vehicles on the N3 in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).
In the early hours of Saturday, two trucks, a bakkie, minibus and five other cars were involved in a collision resulting in a fully laden taxi bursting into flames, according to Arrive Alive.
Netcare 911 paramedics responded to scene, which took place on the N3 south bound between the Peter Brown and Chatterton Road off-ramps.
“When rescuers arrived on scene, the fire had spread to other vehicles and had engulfed the taxi with all its occupants.”
ALSO READ: 19 family members killed in head-on collision between taxi and truck
Police are currently investigating the cause of the accident.
Another crash took place on the N3 north bound, while emergency services were on the scene.
“While on scene, another secondary collision occurred on the northbound carriageway, which left emergency personal scrambling.
“At the time of this release, it is not yet known how many occupants were in the taxi at the time, but they have sadly all been burned to death.
“Multiple other motorists had been injured and are being treated by medical personnel from multiple ambulance services, and an official number has not yet been determined.”
Four people also killed while eight others injured in an accident on the N2 north bound before Spaghetti Junction near Durban.
The collision took place just after 8pm on Friday evening.
“ALS Paramedics Medical Services together with Life Response arrived on the scene to find total carnage after a SUV believed to be carrying an entire family had somehow lost control and collided into the rear of a truck.
One male and two females from the SUV were found to be severely entrapped in the wreckage with fatal injuries. Unfortunately, there were nothing paramedics could do for them and they were declared deceased on the scene.
“The eThekweni Fire Department utilised the jaws of life and other hydraulic tools to free them from the wreckage,” Arrive Alive reported.
A teenager also succumbed to their injuries.
READ MORE: Twelve killed, several others injured in three separate accidents
“Eight others including two babies had sustained injuries ranging from moderate to critical and they were stabilized on the scene before being transported to a nearby Durban hospital for the further treatment that they required.
“Traffic was severely congested around the accident scene.”
Police are currently investigating the cause of the accident.
“At this stage the events leading up to the accident are unknown, however, p[the police] were on the scene and will be investigating further.
In a separate incident, two people on Friday were involved in a collision on the R34 /R33 bypass in KZN.
When emergency services arrived they found that a bakkie had lost control, overturned and left the road, coming to a stop 20 meters down an embankment.
“KwaZulu Private Ambulance Service paramedics quickly assessed the scene and found that two patients had sustained serious injuries and were trapped inside the vehicle.
“Together with rescue technitians, using specialized rescue equipment, paramedics extricated the patients.
“The patients were treated on scene before being transported to hospital for further treatment.”
Meanwhile, two women – aged between 30 and 50 – were killed whilst five others have been were injured after a collision on the N12 just outside of Kimberley on Friday night.
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