Cape Town – A horror crash between a taxi and a sedan on Monday morning left eight people dead and several others injured in the Western Cape.
Eight people were killed, and several others injured this morning following a head-on collision between the vehicles on Melkbosstrand Street between Melkbosstrand and Philadelphia in the Western Cape.
ER24 paramedics,with the police and several other services, arrived on the scene to find a light motor vehicle parked in the road while a taxi was found lying on its side on the side of the road.
“Several people were found lying scattered around on the scene while a man was found lying trapped inside the taxi.
“Medics assessed the patients and found that eight people from the taxi had sustained numerous fatal injuries. Nothing could be done for them, and they were declared dead,” said ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring.
“At least 10 other patients were tended to on the scene, including the entrapped patient. Assessments showed that the injuries sustained ranged from minor to critical.”
According to SAPS spokesperson Captain FC Van Wyk, the injured were taken to various hospitals in the metropole.
“According to reports, the taxi coming from the direction of Dunoon was picking up passengers taken them to Melkbosstrand. On the Melkbosstrand road the tyre of the taxi burst slamming the taxi into oncoming traffic hitting another vehicle,” Van Wyk said.
“The driver of the other vehicle was declared dead on the scene and the jaws of life was used. The driver of the taxi was seriously injured and taken to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.”
City traffic spokesperson Maxine Bezuidenhout said: “Melkbosstrand Road is currently closed in both directions between the N7 and Mamre road exit. All role-players are currently on scene and the cause of the accident is being investigated.”
Van Wyk added a culpable homicide case was registered for investigation, and the bodies still had to be identified.
In an unrelated incident, a woman was killed and another injured this morning following an accident in Constantia.
“ER24 paramedics arrived on the scene to find one vehicle in the middle island while another vehicle was found on the side of the road. A female pedestrian was found lying in front of the car.
“Medics assessed the patients and found that the female pedestrian, believed to be in her 60s, had sustained numerous fatal injuries. Nothing could be done for her, and she was declared dead,” Meiring said.
“One other driver, a woman in her 50s, was assessed and found to have sustained moderate injuries. The woman was treated and thereafter transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
“It is understood that the pedestrian was struck after the two vehicles collided. Local authorities were on the scene for further investigations,” he said.
Cape Argus