WATCH: Six dead, nine injured in taxi horror crash
Emergency services coordinated their efforts to ensure the patients were treated
Six people died and nine were injured when the taxi they were travelling in collided head-on with a bus on the R102 near Empangeni just before 1pm on Monday afternoon.
According to Tracey Coertse of Meditrax, who coordinated emergency services on the scene, one person was critically injured while five passengers sustained moderate injuries and four slight injuries.
‘One patient was taken to Life Empangeni Private Hospital by Meditrax, while the others were transported to Ngwelezana Hospital,’ Coertse said.
While five people were declared dead on scene, four women and one man, the ZO can confirm that another woman passed away at Ngwelezana Hospital shortly after being admitted.
The accident occurred near the University of Zululand traffic circle.
The driver of the bus told the ZO he was travelling to Mtunzini when the taxi tried to overtake a line of other cars.
He said he could not brake in time to avoid the taxi smashing into the bus.
KZN EMS, KwaZulu Private, Khasa EMS as well as ECG EMS paramedics all worked together to treat the patients.
Traffic on the R102 was badly affected as City of uMhlathuze firefighters worked to clear the scene.
The Jaws of Life had to be used to extract the bodies from the mangled taxi.
Meanwhile on the N2 near Bridge B, where a car earlier caught fire, a vehicle travelling towards Empangeni collided with a small bus transporting Bell Equipment employees to Stanger.
While the exact cause of the crash remains uncertain, the ZO spoke to eyewitnesses who claimed a Toyota Camry swerved to avoid the burnt-out hull of the car, colliding with the bus.
Three people were injured and taken to hospital.
• For more on this story, grab your copy of the ZO Weekender Edition on Thursday.
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