Four officers killed in taxi collision
Four police officers from the Kokstad SAPS died on the N2 after a collision with a minibus taxi and their VW Golf.
|||Durban - Four police officers from the Kokstad SAPS died on the N2 near Harding on Saturday night after a collision with a minibus taxi and their VW Golf. One person in the taxi also died.
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport said on Sunday that the officers were from the crime intelligence unit and were on duty when the collision occurred.
Paramedics treated 10 passengers from the taxi who had minor injuries.
At the time of publication, Nathi Sukazi, a department spokesman, said the names of the officers were not available.
KZN police were also asked for further information, but said they were awaiting a response from the Kokstad cluster commander.
MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Willies Mchunu, said this was a major setback in the fight against crime.
“The skills and capacity they possessed as members of the crime intelligence are scarce,” he said.
“Forensic teams are working on the scene. This is a sad reminder that road safety is everyone’s responsibility. We send our deepest condolences to the provincial commissioner and the entire SAPS family,” Mchunu said.
On Wednesday, Mchunu is expected to announce the department’s plans for the Christmas season including key areas of focus for traffic enforcement, crime hot spots and the number of personnel to be deployed.
Emergency services reported a busy weekend with numerous injuries and three further fatalities.
KZN EMS reported a crash in Hillcrest yesterday where nine people were treated. Netcare 911 reported three minor injuries after an accident on the N2 south-bound near Ballito, also on Sunday.
ER24 said one person was killed and two injured when a bakkie rolled, on the M7 near Pinetown, on Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday, ER24 reported that one man had died after a motorbike collision in Howick.
Also on Saturday, Chris Botha, of Netcare 911, said paramedics were called out to an accident scene on the N2 near the Umhlali River Bridge.
He said reports from the scene indicated that a bakkie had clipped the rear of a stationary vehicle in the fast lane and had veered off and rolled several times.
He said paramedics found the bakkie driver several metres away from the wreckage. He died soon after arriving at hospital.
On the same day, paramedics responded to a head-on collision on the R603 in Eston.
Botha said one of the vehicles burst into flames on impact and members of the public had pulled a man from the wreckage.
He said two other injured people were apparently taken away by passers-by before the paramedics arrived.
Crisis Medical reported two injuries on the N2 near Queen Nandi Drive on Saturday night when a light motor vehicle overturned.
The cause of the accident was unclear.
noelene.barbeau@inl.co.za
Daily News
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