A truck driver died and two people were trapped inside the vehicle after a serious collision on the notorious Fields Hill, west of Durban, on Friday.

The accident happened on the M13 freeway shortly before 3pm.

Paramedics rushed to the scene after a truck drove straight into another truck at the bottom of Fields Hill, at the intersection of Richmond Road, heading into Pinetown.

“Three people are severely entrapped in one of the trucks and unfortunately the driver has sustained major injuries and has passed away,” said Rescue Care paramedics spokesperson, Garrith Jamieson.

The road has become notorious for collisions due to its steepness. In 2013, 24 people were killed at the same area after a truck ploughed through the intersection, colliding with several other vehicles.

Jamieson said on Friday afternoon that paramedics were working to stabilise the two trapped men while attempting to free them from the wreckage.

“Rescuers, together with advanced life support paramedics, are stabilising the other two and they are going to be using the jaws of life and other hydraulic tools to cut the men free from the wreckage,” he said.

Motorists were advised to avoid the area.