DURBAN - Seven people were killed in a multiple vehicle crash on the R56 between Richmond and Pietermaritzburg, west of Durban, on Saturday evening.
Netcare 911 spokesperson Shawn Herbst said initially four people died in the crash involving a minibus taxi and another vehicle.
Herbst said the death toll had risen to seven dead. The three critical had died, bringing the death toll to seven.
He said at the time of the time of the crash at around 6.26pm, four people had died while six had sustained moderate to serious injuries and three people had sustained critical injuries.
Police had not commented by the time of publication.
In a Facebook post, Mhlabunzima Memela posted images of the crash and said: “Seven people died in a head-on collision on R56 Road between Richmond and Pietermaritzburg. A Toyota Land Cruiser and a Toyota Quantum full of passengers from Richmond to Pietermaritzburg. It's believe the cruiser lost control… Road was closed and emergency personnel had to use jaws of life to cut open the taxi to free injured passengers. Six of the dead were in the taxi and one from the cruiser. This second accident on this road in one hour. A number of vehicles collided before Stone road off-ramp as you head towards Richmond. The weather is bad; please be careful on the roads.”
Meanwhile, South African Weather Service forecaster Thandiwe Gumede said 21.0mm of rain fell in the Pietermaritzburg area on Saturday.
Gumede said rain started falling from 3am on Saturday and started to become moderate to heavy from around 9am/10am.
“In Pietermaritzburg and Durban, for today (yesterday) scattered to widespread showers and thundershowers are expected, with an alert for disruptive rain, the same alert as we had yesterday (Saturday),” Gumede said.
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