Six people die in Umkomaas collision
Six people were killed near Umkomaas when their car collided head-on with a lorry on Sunday night, said paramedics.
Netcare 911 spokesman Chris Botha said that according to reports from the accident scene, the car veered across the road into the oncoming truck that was pulling two trailers on the N2.
He said that when paramedics and the local fire brigade arrived at the scene, the crumpled wreckage of the car, which had been heading towards Durban, was lying about 50 metres away from the truck’s cab.
Botha said the occupants of the car were all still in the vehicle and paramedics declared them dead at the scene near the Umkomaas offramp.
Robert McKenzie, spokesman for the KwaZulu-Natal provincial Emergency Medical Service, said there were five men and a girl believed to be about 10-years old in the car.
He said three people from the truck, including a small child, sustained minor injuries and were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
McKenzie said the lorry had been transporting logs.
Botha said it was not immediately known why the car veered into oncoming traffic, but authorities were at the scene investigating.
Zinhle Mngomezulu, spokeswoman for the KwaZulu-Natal Road Traffic Inspectorate, said that the N2 had to be closed in both directions and traffic was diverted to use the R102.
She said the car had a Gauteng registration.
Umkomaas is a coastal town about 50 kilometres south of Durban.