One dead in Umbumbulu bakkie smash

One woman was killed and twenty people were injured when two bakkies collided on the R603 Kingsburgh Road near Umbumbulu, south of Durban this evening.

It is thought that a single-cab bakkie, carrying fifteen people, emerged from a district road and joined the R603.

As it did so a double-cab bakkie with six occupants, travelling towards Kingsburgh, ploughed into the vehicle.

The single-cab bakkie with its fifteen occupants spun out-of-control before leaving the road and coming to rest in the tall grass at the roadside. Shrouded in darkness, the fifteen passengers who had sustained minor to moderate injuries, hobbled to the roadside in search of aid.

The double cab bakkie overturned and rolled repeatedly, coming to rest on its side in the middle of the road. As the bakkie spun its passengers were thrown from the bin.

Netcare911 Paramedics found the body of one woman lying motionless in the road. She died at the scene as a result of massive head trauma. One critically injured woman and four other seriously injured people were found lying prostrate at the roadside.

All the wounded were treated and stabilised by Netcare911 Paramedics at the scene before they were transported to area hospitals by ambulance for further medical care. Additional resources in the form of ambulances and crews were called in from surrounding areas to assist paramedics.

Debris littered the roadway, and a visible path from the point of impact was lined with pieces of the double-cab bakkie.

The road was obstructed while emergency service personnel cleared the scene. - Netcare 911