* This story has been updated to change the death and injury toll.
Durban – Five people were killed and 14 other people seriously injured in a collision between two trucks and a minibus taxi in Durban on Friday afternoon, paramedics said.
Rescue Care Paramedics spokesman Garrith Jamieson said that three women and a man had died in the collision which happened on the N3 near the Pavillion Shopping Centre.
All the injured and deceased were from the taxi.
Durban’s rush hour traffic on the N3 towards the EB Cloethe Interchange was severely disrupted.
ER24 spokesman Russel Meiring said reports from the scene indicated that a taxi had apparently rear-ended a lorry that had broken down in the left lane.
A second truck then ploughed into the back of the minibus-taxi.
Several ambulance crews as well as the eThekwini Metro Fire Brigade attended the accident and extricated patients.
Jamieson said: “Rescue Workers used the Jaws of Life and other hydraulic equipment to free the trapped passengers. This took close on a hour due to the severity of the incident.”
He said that most of the 14 had sustained serious injuries and were taken to various hospitals by the various ambulance services.