Durban - KwaZulu-Natal paramedics had their hands full this weekend after a spate of road accidents that collectively claimed at least 17 lives and left a number of people injured.
Eight people died in two separate accidents on Saturday night.
According to a KZN transport spokesman, Kwanele Ncalane, one accident happened at Emmaus turn-off involved a minibus taxi and a Toyota Corolla at about 6.30pm.
“All four male occupants from the sedan were fatally injured. The driver of the minibus was the only occupant of the vehicle and he had sustained serious injuries during the crash,” said Robert McKenzie, an Emergency Medical Services spokesman.
Another accident happened in Louwsburg in the Zululand district, where a bakkie carrying more than 20 people overturned, ejecting the passengers on to a gravel road.
A car that came on the scene then collided with some of the passengers who were in the road.
“At least four people died at the scene, three were critically injured and a further 22 sustained injuries.
“Paramedics treated the injured before transporting them to Vryheid Hospital,” said McKenzie.
Ncalane said the accidents happened two days after transport MEC Willies Mchunu tabled his budget speech “which called for action to end the scourge of road accidents”.
Mchunu announced the establishment of an accident reconstruction team that would investigate and advise on how to end the road carnage.
“We are taking road safety seriously and want to turn the tide in fighting the number of road accidents in KZN, but road users must play their part,” said Mchunu.
“Saturday night’s fatal accidents are… regrettable. Our teams are on the ground to ensure thorough investigations are conducted into the causes of both accidents.”
In Mpumalanga Township, near Hammarsdale, two people died in a crash on Mtoko Mkhize Road, also on Saturday evening. A third passenger survived with serious injuries.
One person was killed on Sunday morning when a car crashed from one level down to another level of the EB Cloete interchange (Spaghetti Junction) in Durban, McKenzie said.
In the Hlazakazi near Nqutu, a small bakkie overturned early on Sunday. Three people died, three passengers had serious injuries, while four had minor injuries.
Also on Sunday, in Chesterville, a pedestrian was killed after being hit by a vehicle and a 7-year-old-girl died after being knocked down on the R102 near Bazley Beach.
On Sunday night a man was killed and his wife and two children injured in an accident on the N3 near Mooi River.
McKenzie said after payday and long weekends, paramedics were often busy. He said this weekend was a combination of both.
The Mercury