Seven people died when the taxi they were travelling in veered off the R102 in Umhlali, north of Durban, and rolled down an embankment.

KZN emergency services spokesperson Robert McKenzie said six females and one male succumbed to their injuries after the taxi crashed at about 6.45am on Friday.

Fifteen others have reportedly been injured. Netcare 911's Shawn Herbst said medics from various services treated the patients on scene.

“Due to the nature of one of the patient's injuries, a medical helicopter was called to the scene,” he said.

“Once treated, all the patients were transported by various ambulance services to hospital for further treatment. All necessary authorities were on scene.”