The death toll in an accident involving a truck and a taxi in KwaZulu-Natal’s Colenso area has risen to 12, police and transport officials said on Friday.
Captain Charmaine Struwig said two more people had died during the night in hospital, while transport spokesperson Nonkululeko Mbatha confirmed that a third person had died at another hospital.
Nine others — the taxi driver and eight passengers — died at the accident scene on Thursday night.
An official of the provincial emergency services said 18 people had been inside the taxi and that six had survived. Three were in a serious condition in hospital.
The taxi was travelling from Colenso to Ladysmith when it collided with a truck at the intersection of the R103 and the N11, Struwig said. The truck driver told police he was turning on to the R103 when his vehicle’s brakes failed.
”Both vehicles have been impounded by the road traffic inspectorate at Ladysmith with the purpose of testing the mechanics of both vehicles,” she said.
Although police said the truck driver escaped uninjured, the department of community safety said he had also been hurt.
Mbatha said most of the victims were from the Ladysmith and Cato Ridge area.
Provincial transport minister Bheki Cele sent condolences to the bereaved families.
Mbatha said road-safety officials would be visiting the survivors in hospital as well as the families of the victims. — Sapa