Helicopter search for wreckage after car goes off a cliff in KwaSwayimane, KwaZulu-Natal
A helicopter search is being conducted after a vehicle crashed off a cliff in KwaSwayimane, near Pietermaritzburg on Saturday.
Image: KZN Department of Transport
The KwaZulu-Natal Transport Department said a search is being conducted for a wreckage after a crash took place in KwaSwayimane, near Pietermaritzburg on Saturday.
In a statement on Sunday, Transport MEC Siboniso Duma said he had received a report about the crash.
“We can confirm that a car driven by a female driver crashed off a cliff in KwaSwayimane. We have been made aware that members of the helicopter rescue team have been trying to locate the wreckage.
“I have assigned a team from my office to liaise with the family and the neighbours. Importantly, our highly efficient team from the Road Traffic Inspectorate is liaising with the South Africa Police Search and Rescue Unit and emergency personnel,” said Duma.
Meanwhile, a KZN Department of Health ambulance transporting a critical patient was involved in a collision on the N2 highway near the Umfolozi River also on Saturday afternoon.
According to the department, the ambulance from Umkhanyakude District was ferrying a patient and a relative from Hlabisa Hospital to Ngwelezana Hospital when it collided with a sedan.
“Initial reports indicate that the ambulance crew attempted to avoid a sedan that allegedly lost control and veered into its path. During this evasive manoeuvre, the ambulance lost control and overturned,” the department said.
One crew member sustained injuries and was transported to the nearest hospital for urgent medical attention. The patient and the accompanying relative suffered minor injuries and were transferred to another ambulance to continue their journey to Ngwelezana Hospital.
While formal investigations are ongoing, the department said preliminary accounts suggest the sedan was “being driven at excessive speed and in an erratic manner.”
The incident, Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane said, “highlights a grave reality, that reckless driving endangers not only the driver but also our emergency responders and vulnerable patients whose lives depend on timely care.”