POLOKWANE: Two people died and six others suffered various injuries in two separate road accidents in Limpopo and Mpumalanga on Saturday morning, paramedics said.
One person was killed and three others sustained various injuries in a collision between a car and a minibus taxi on the R71 about a kilometre outside of Polokwane in Limpopo on Saturday morning, ER24 spokesperson Werner Vermaak said in a statement.
Paramedics arriving on the scene found that a minibus taxi and a light motor vehicle had collided, he said.
The driver of one of the vehicles was trapped behind the steering wheel and had to be freed from the wreckage. He was later transported to Mediclinic Limpopo for further care.
Two other people were treated on the scene for moderate injuries and also transported to the hospital.
The exact circumstances surrounding the collision were not yet known, but local authorities attended the scene to investigate, Vermaak said.
And in the neighbouring province of Mpumalanga, one person was killed and three other people were injured in head-on collision between a car and a bakkie early on Saturday morning.
"A head-on collision along the R546 Embalenhle [road] in Mpumalanga left one person dead and three others with minor to moderate injuries," Vermaak said.
"At approximately 4.23 am on Saturday, paramedics from ER24 and other services attended the scene where they found a man in a bakkie with fatal injuries. He was declared dead by another service on the scene. Three people from the second vehicle were found with minor to moderate injuries."
The three injured people were assessed on the scene and later transported to Mediclinic Highveld for further care. The exact circumstances surrounding the collision were also not known, but local authorities on the scene would investigate, Vermaak said.
- African News Agency (ANA), editing by Jacques Keet