Durban - One person was killed and four others were critically injured when they were hit by a vehicle while apparently sleeping under a bridge in Pinetown, Durban just after 4.15 am on Saturday morning, paramedics said.
Rescue Care paramedics arrived on the scene to find "chaos", Rescue Care spokesman Garrith Jamieson said.
"There is currently construction [under way], building the new bus lane on Old Main Road, which goes underneath St Johns Avenue. This is cordoned off. However, a light motor vehicle crashed through the barricades and collided into the pedestrians," he said.
Paramedics found one man, believed to be in his 20s, had sustained major injuries and was declared dead on the scene. Four other people, one woman and three men, had sustained critical injuries and required advanced life support paramedics to stabilise them on the scene before transporting them to a nearby hospital for the further care that they required.
At this stage, the events leading up to the vehicle crashing through the barriers was unknown, but police were on the scene and would investigate, Jamieson said.