Durban - Two people, killed in a head-on crash in KwaZulu-Natal at the weekend, were related to the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth. Louise Sword and her 13-year-old daughter, Tabitha, were killed when the Toyota Fortuner that they were travelling in collided head-on with a car. They were on their way back from a safari trip when tragedy struck.
According to UK-based publication, Mirror, Louise Sword’s brother is married to the Queen’s cousin, Lady Helen Taylor. Sword and her daughter lived in Lurgashall, West Sussex, England.
Tabitha died at the scene, while her mother passed away minutes after arriving at a hospital.
IPSS Medical Rescue spokesperson, Paul Herbst, said the family was travelling back to Durban when the accident took place on the N2, near Zinkwazi.
“It is believed that a driver of a H100 was travelling North on the N2 when it had a blowout. The driver stopped in the fast lane. A driver of a Mercedes Benz was also travelling north and allegedly swerved to avoid the H100 and went into the oncoming lane. A Toyota Fortuner travelling south collided head-on with the Mercedes Benz,” Herbst said.
He said the driver of the Mercedes Benz, unfortunately, died shortly after the arrival of paramedics.
“The girl, who was traveling with her family was also declared dead by the time our emergency teams arrived. The father, mother and older brother all sustained critical injuries and all three patients were airlifted to Lenmed eThekweni hospital, with the assistance of IPSS/Black Eagle aeromedical helicopter and KZN provincial aeromedical service,” he said.
Herbst said the driver of the SUV was still entrapped in the wreckage and required KDM Fire Department to use the jaws of life to free him before he was transported by IPSS Medical Rescue ambulance to a hospital.