18 die in taxi crash

01 December 2011 - 11:45
By Sapa

Taxi and truck collided, then caught fire

Eighteen people, including a baby, were killed when a minibus taxi crashed into a truck outside Belfast in Mpumalanga this morning

“The minibus was completely burnt out,” Mpumalanga public safety  spokesman Joseph Mabuza said.

The minibus, carrying 17 people, veered out of its lane and collided head-on with a truck on the N4 outside Belfast around 4am.  The truck dragged the minibus and both vehicles caught fire.

When paramedics arrived on the scene, three bodies were lying on  the side of the road. By 9.20am, 14 bodies, including that of a two-year-old baby, had been retrieved from the minibus taxi.

“The bodies were burnt beyond recognition.”   

The truck driver was also killed.

The taxi was en route from Mozambique to Johannesburg, while the truck was travelling from Johannesburg to Nelspruit.