Fatality and scores of injuries as rain lashes KZN

A man was killed and as many as 40 others were injured in a spate of accidents across the KZN coast on Wednesday as the province was lashed by heavy rains.

IPSS Medical Rescue spokesperson Paul Herbst said the man was killed when his car collided head-on with a truck on the N2 near the Tugela River‚ north of Durban.

“A fuel tanker and a light motor vehicle have collided near the Tugela bridge‚ forcing the closure of the northbound carriageway. Unfortunately the driver of the car sustained fatal injuries and was declared dead by paramedics. The KwaDukuza fire department used the jaws of life to free the body from the wreckage.”

He said the driver of the tanker was unhurt.

In another incident‚ 30 people were injured in a pile-up on the M4 southern freeway near Congella in the South Durban basin.

Rescue Care spokesperson Garrith Jamieson said that two minibus taxis and two cars collided.

He said that the injured‚ from both the taxis and cars‚ were treated at the scene by paramedics. The accident caused a severe traffic backlog.

Thereafter 14 people were hurt when a minibus and a light delivery truck collided on the Dinkelman Highway near Pinetown. Jamieson said the wounded had been transported to hospital.

Both medical-rescue spokespeople urged road users to exercise caution while travelling in wet weather.