Taxi heading for Harding kills 16 in N3 crash – South Coast Herald

The municipality of Umuziwabantu said it was saddened to learn that the 16 people recently involved in a horrific accident on the N3 in Pietermaritzburg were heading to its town, Harding.

In a statement, the KwaZulu-Natal Ministry of Transport, Community Safety and Liaison said preliminary reports into the accident on Saturday revealed that a lorry initially overturned on the N3, adding that , while still waiting to be pulled off the highway and as other vehicles attempted to turn away from the overturned truck, a Toyota Quantum minibus drove under the truck, causing a chain reaction, which resulted in a stack of nine cars.

The ministry added that all 16 passengers had been burned beyond recognition.

KZN Department of Transport spokesman Thuba Vilane told Fever that although the taxi was going to Harding, commuters going to Harding were loaded into the taxi heading for Matatiele in the Eastern Cape since the taxi going to Umuziwabantu didn’t have enough passengers to leave Gauteng.

Vilane said the deceased included seven women and nine men who were all passengers in the taxi. He said a seven-year-old boy was the sole survivor in the taxi, adding that he survived after his mother, trapped in the taxi, managed to squeeze him out of the window and hand him over to a police officer. the road traffic inspector who had dealt with the overturned truck.

Vilane added that the boy was rushed to Northdale Hospital in Pietermaritzburg.

Also, he said there is still one deceased person who has not been identified.

MEC for KZN Transport, Community Safety, and Liaison, Peggy Nkonyeni said she was deeply saddened by the horrific crash that claimed so many lives.

After the crash, there was a storm of online speculation that the passengers involved in the crash were from the Gugwini area of ​​Harding. However, the Mayor of Umuziwabantu, Siboniso Zungu, said that although they have no details of the deceased, knowing that they lost their lives while traveling to their town is painful enough to make them saddened. and share their pain with the loved ones of the deceased. .

“My deepest condolences to the families of the victims. We also wish everyone who suffered injuries a speedy recovery,” Zungu said.

Meanwhile, Vilane said he discovered four of the passengers were from Umzimkhulu, near Harding.

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