DURBAN - MORE than 20 people have been killed in two road crashes in KwaZulu-Natal.
Nine people lost their lives in a head-on collision on the N2 between the Canefields intersection and the Enseleni Nature Reserve on Sunday evening.
Robert McKenzie, KZN emergency medical services spokesperson, said an SUV and a minibus taxi collided, killing eight people.
McKenzie said paramedics treated 13 victims at the scene before taking them to hospital. One person died yesterday in hospital bringing the death toll to nine.
Six men and three women from both vehicles died. McKenzie said nine people were being treated at Ngwelezane Hospital.
KZN provincial police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele confirmed the incident, adding charges of culpable homicide were being investigated by Empangeni SAPS.
A week ago, another deadly crash on the R612 between Highflats and Ixopo claimed 13 lives.
Most of the victims were women who were travelling in a minibus taxi when it collided with a tipper truck. City of uMhlathuze mayor Mduduzi Mhlongo raised concerns about the fatal accidents in the area.
Mhlongo said on Friday last week, a person from the Department of Education in the region was killed in a crash.
“The stretch where the accident happened last night is the same spot where about 19 people from the same families lost their lives in 2019, while coming from an umembeso (traditional ceremony) in Esikhaleni. We would like to pass our condolences to all families,” said Mhlongo.
MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Neliswa Peggy Nkonyeni, said the department was investigating the accidents.
“It is indeed a sad reality that in less than a week the province has lost more than 20 people. We cannot overemphasise the importance of obeying the rules of the road and being 100% compliant,” she said
Nkonyeni said such gruesome accidents could be avoided.
She said forensic experts would be deployed to investigate the cause of the accident.
“On behalf of the government, I would like to send my heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased.”
Nkonyeni said October was Transport Month when the department would intensify road safety campaigns and encourage motorists to adhere to traffic laws.
THE MERCURY