Durban - Minibus taxis were involved in two of three accidents that left a trail of death and destruction on KwaZulu-Natal roads this weekend as October Transport month, which seeks to highlight road safety among other things, comes to an end.
Ten people lost their lives while over 17 others sustained injuries ranging from minor to serious.
On Saturday night, seven people died in a crash just before 8pm when a minibus taxi, believed to have been travelling from Estcourt town to Wembezi township, and a Toyota Corolla collided.
According to the KZN Department of Transport both vehicles caught alight upon impact.
Midlands EMS said four people were declared deceased on the scene and multiple patients were transported to various hospitals for further care.
Three patients later died.
The department said a multi-disciplinary team of law enforcement is investigating the cause of the accident. Cases of culpable homicide are also being investigated.
On Friday, IPSS Medical Rescue reported that two vehicles were involved in a head-on collision on the R102 near Stanger which resulted in the deaths of three people and four others were seriously injured.
Once the injured were stabilised they were transported to a nearby medical facility by IPSS paramedics for the further care that they required.
In a separate accident on Friday, the Mi7 National Group's Emergency Medical Services were dispatched just before 8am after reports of a motor vehicle accident on Bombay Road in Pietermaritzburg.
“Mi7 medics found that three vehicles had collided, including a minibus taxi carrying school pupils. The crash left 13 occupants from all the vehicles involved with minor injuries,” it said.
According to the Mi7 Group other emergency service providers were also on the scene and quickly worked to stabilise the patients before transporting them to hospital for further treatment.
