Wet weather death toll keeps rising

Five die, four hurt in horror accident

Five people were killed in a horror crash on the N3 near Shongweni‚ west of Durban‚ on Wednesday night.

Four other people were badly injured after a car bound for the city veered across the centre median and hit another vehicle.

Rescue Care spokesman Garrith Jamieson said medics were confronted with carnage when they arrived at the accident scene.

“The two cars collided and this hulk of mangled wreckage was in the middle of the road with both cars wedged together in the impact. Paramedics immediately set about treating the wounded‚” he said.

“A total of five people‚ three men and two women‚ sustained fatal injuries and‚ as there was nothing medics could do for them‚ were declared dead on the scene.”

Jamieson said their attention was turned to the surviving victims‚ who were in a serious condition.

“Fire-fighters and rescue personnel used the Jaws of Life and other hydraulic equipment to free the wounded from the wreckage of the cars. They were treated and stabilised at the roadside before we took them to hospital‚” he added.

There have been a spate of road accidents in Durban thought to be linked to wet weather‚ which has hit the city since Wednesday.

In another incident on Wednesday‚ a man walking on the side of the R102 in Verulam was killed when he was struck by lightning. –