Three people were killed and sixteen others injured, five critically so, when the taxi they were travelling in left the N3 Durban bound carriageway near the Shongweni off-ramp and rolled repeatedly before coming to rest in the west bound carriageway this afternoon.
What caused the driver to lose control of the fully laden taxi is unknown. Injured passengers report that he was exchanging money with a commuter when he lost control. The taxi swerved into the grassed median and began to roll. Passengers were thrown from open windows as the vehicle spun. The mangled wreckage came to rest in oncoming traffic.
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Netcare911 Paramedics arrived to find the injured scattered across the roadway and grassed median, some screaming in pain.
Two women sustained severe head trauma when they were thrown from the taxi and were declared dead at the scene. Another critically injured woman succumbed to her injuries shortly after she was rushed to R.K. Khan Hospital, Chatsworth, for further medical care.
The injured were treated and stabilised at the scene before they were transported by ambulance to both Edendale and R.K. Khan Hospitals for treatment. One critically injured woman was airlifted by the Netcare3 Helicopter to a Durban hospital for further care.
Traffic in both directions was closed completely while emergency service personnel and recovery experts cleared the scene. Onlookers left their cars and crowded around the scene, moving between the emergency vehicles that lined the roadside.
The incident is to be investigated by the Police?s Collision Unit.
Those not critically injured remain in a serious condition.
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