A minibus taxi carrying 12 passengers plunged into the Umpambanyoni River on the N2 freeway at Scottburgh on the South Coast.
A minibus taxi carrying 12 passengers plunged into the Umpambanyoni River on the N2 freeway at Scottburgh on the South Coast.
The taxi was travelling from Umzinto towards Durban on the N2 yesterday when it crashed into the steel roadside barrier, careened along the top of the concrete bridge wall and plummeted about 30 metres into the thick bushes in the river-bed.
"The minibus was reduced to a flattened heap of metal beneath a tree that had been split in two when the taxi crashed through it," said police spokesman Captain Vincent Pandarum.
"Two passengers who had been thrown out of the taxi before it went into the river approached a motorist for assistance and the Scottburgh SAPS were contacted.
Emergency rescue personnel hoisted nine seriously injured people onto the bridge.
Pandarum said the injured were taken to the GJ Crookes Hospital in Scottburgh and the Prince Mshiyeni Hospital in Durban. Rescue officers were searching the surrounding dense bushes to see if anyone else had been thrown out of the vehicle.
The taxi driver faces a charge of reckless and negligent driving. - Sowetan
Taxi falls into river
A minibus taxi carrying 12 passengers plunged into the Umpambanyoni River on the N2 freeway at Scottburgh on the South Coast.
A minibus taxi carrying 12 passengers plunged into the Umpambanyoni River on the N2 freeway at Scottburgh on the South Coast.
The taxi was travelling from Umzinto towards Durban on the N2 yesterday when it crashed into the steel roadside barrier, careened along the top of the concrete bridge wall and plummeted about 30 metres into the thick bushes in the river-bed.
"The minibus was reduced to a flattened heap of metal beneath a tree that had been split in two when the taxi crashed through it," said police spokesman Captain Vincent Pandarum.
"Two passengers who had been thrown out of the taxi before it went into the river approached a motorist for assistance and the Scottburgh SAPS were contacted.
Emergency rescue personnel hoisted nine seriously injured people onto the bridge.
Pandarum said the injured were taken to the GJ Crookes Hospital in Scottburgh and the Prince Mshiyeni Hospital in Durban. Rescue officers were searching the surrounding dense bushes to see if anyone else had been thrown out of the vehicle.
The taxi driver faces a charge of reckless and negligent driving. - Sowetan
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