19 killed in horror taxi crash

CRIES of sorrow echoed through the rolling hills of KwaXimba, near Cato Ridge in rural KwaZulu Natal, yesterday afternoon.

Hundreds of people were gathered at the spot where hours earlier, a minibus taxi – packed full of churchgoers on their way to a Sunday morning service – careened off a bridge and plunged 15 metres down an embankment.

By late afternoon, the death toll from the horror crash was at 19.

The accident took place on the main road in the Msunduzi Valley area at around 9.30am.

The Department of Community Safety and Liaison in KwaZulu-Natal posted on its Facebook page that the driver of the minibus had lost control of the vehicle and it had rolled several times.

“As per the disc, the vehicle is certified to carry 16 passengers… however, it was ferrying 26 people including thedriver,” the department said. They said “the minibus was overloaded by 10 people”.

MEC Mxolisi Kaunda visited the scene yesterday.

He said his department was compiling a report, but that initial investigations indicated that the minibus brakes were not in good condition. Kaunda said the majority of those who had died were women.

The SAPS Search and Rescue unit, State paramedics and private ambulance services were all at the scene.

ER24’s Russel Meiring said they found the minibus lying on its roof at the bottom of the embankment.

“A total of 15 bodies were found lying around the vehicle. Paramedics assessed the patients and found that all 15 had already succumbed to their multiple injuries. Nothing more could be done for them and they were declared dead on the scene,” Meiring said.

Members of the community had rushed a number of the survivors to the local clinic immediately after the accident. Meiring said they treated several patients at the scene and at the clinic. Five of them had sustained critical injuries.

Paramedics provided them with advanced life support interventions.

“Unfortunately, after some time, three succumbed to their injuries and were declared dead,” Meiring said.

Later in the day, another person died.

Robert Mckenzie, spokesperson for KZN Emergency Medical Services, said they treated a total of 12 patients with critical and serious injuries.

“The injured were treated at the scene of the crash and at the clinic,” McKenzie said, “The injured were transported to hospitals in the Durban and Pietermaritzburg areas for continued medical care.”

SAPS spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbhele said police were investigating.

The ANC in the KZN issued a statement yesterday afternoon in which it labelled the crash a “sad and painful tragedy”.

It added that suggestions the minibus was overloaded was “concerning”. “The ANC further calls on the law enforcement and authorities to swiftly investigate the causes of this carnage.”