KwaZulu Private Ambulance Service, responded to a devastating collision involving a fully-laden taxi and a sedan this evening, resulting in a high patient count and a significant road closure on the R61.
?At approximately 18h30, emergency crews were dispatched to the critical intersection of the R61 and Southbroom Avenue.
The incident involved a collision between a light motor vehicle (sedan) and a taxi. Preliminary reports from the scene indicate that following the impact, the taxi, which was transporting passengers home from work, lost control and overturned violently.
?The scene was described by first responders as chaotic, requiring a complex and coordinated emergency response. Paramedics immediately initiated a mass casualty triage procedure due to the high number of injured occupants scattered across the scene.
?A total of 13 patients sustained injuries in the impact, ?one patient from the taxi sustained serious injuries, specifically suspected spinal injuries, necessitating urgent advanced life support interventions.
?One patient, the occupant of the sedan, also sustained serious injuries and required immediate stabilisation on-scene.
?Eleven patients from the taxi sustained minor injuries, consisting mainly of various lacerations and abrasions.
?All the patients were treated on-scene by paramedics before being transported to various local hospitals for ongoing professional medical care.
?Authorities, including the South African Police Service (SAPS), the Fire Department, and the Municipal Traffic Department, converged on the site. The collision impacted traffic flow, necessitating the partial closure of the R61 in the vicinity of Southbroom Avenue for approximately one hour and thirty minutes while emergency medical services worked to treat and extricate the patients.
Law enforcement managed the significant traffic diversions until the scene was cleared and
?SAPS is currently investigating the exact cause of the collision.