INLSA
Traffic backs up on the N2 north-bound before the Umgeni Road off-ramp after an accident involving a truck, a taxi and 12 other vehicles yesterday. Three people were injured in the incident. PICTURE: Yusuf Moolla
Yusuf Moolla
A CHILD was killed and at least 28 people were injured in a spate of accidents in Durban yesterday.
In the morning, an eight-year-old boy died when he was knocked down by a delivery vehicle in Pinetown.
“Paramedics arrived on the scene and found the boy lying motionless in the road, with people gathered around him,” said ER24 spokesman Derrick Banks.
The driver of the delivery vehicle was treated for shock, he said.
Also in the morning, 25 people were injured when a taxi overturned and rolled several times on the M4 near the Jacobs Road turn-off.
Netcare911 spokesman Chris Botha said one person had sustained critical injuries, five were seriously injured and 18 had escaped with minor injuries. Among the injured were 13 children.
Banks said the vehicle was found lying on its side in the fast lane of the freeway.
He said motorists blocking the emergency lane had made it difficult for rescue vehicles to get to the scene.
And a multiple vehicle accident on the N2 north-bound near the Umgeni Road off-ramp brought afternoon rush-hour traffic to a near standstill. Three people were injured in the accident, which involved a truck, a taxi and 12 other vehicles.
“Paramedics and the emergency services arrived at the scene to find absolute carnage,” said Botha.
At first glance, they were sure that several people had lost their lives. After examining those involved, however, it was found that there were no fatalities. However, a critically wounded woman was trapped in a car wedged under the nose of the truck, while two others had sustained serious injuries. Botha said that police officers and firemen had used the jaws of life to free the woman.
Traffic was backed up several kilometres towards the Queensburgh turn-off, as well as towards the Durban CBD.
