Six killed as truck and taxi collide on R56, KZN

Six people died and eight others were injured in a collision between a truck and a minibus taxi on the R56 in Richmond in KwaZulu-Natal on Friday morning.

ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring said paramedics arrived on the scene at 2.24am to find two vehicles on the side of the road.

“The entire one side of the taxi had been completely ripped open in the collision,” he said.

Medics set up a triage area and began to tend to the patients.

“Medics found that four women, a man and an infant had sustained numerous fatal injuries. Nothing could be done for them and they were declared dead.

“Eight other patients were tended to. Assessments showed that six people had critical injuries while two others had moderate injuries,” Meiring said.

Paramedics treated the patients and provided the critically injured with advanced life support interventions.

“Once treated, one critically injured patient was airlifted by a private medical helicopter to a nearby hospital while the remaining patients were transported by ambulances to nearby facilities,” Meiring said.