Three separate crashes leave two dead, including a newborn, and several injured in Durban incidents.
Image: ALS Paramedics
Two people, including a newborn baby, have died in separate crashes across Durban over the past three days, while several others were left injured in multiple collisions attended by emergency services.
Paramedics from ALS Paramedics responded to three serious incidents between Thursday and Sunday, all of which are now under investigation by the South African Police Service.
In the most recent incident, a baby believed to be less than a month old was killed in a head-on collision on the M35 in Folweni, south of Durban, on Sunday afternoon.
ALS Paramedics spokesperson Garrith Jamieson said crews arrived shortly after 4.30pm to find two vehicles extensively damaged and obstructing the roadway.
“Paramedics found that both vehicle drivers were severely entrapped in the wreckage. Immediately, the eThekwini Fire Department was dispatched to assist,” Jamieson said.
Firefighters used hydraulic rescue tools to free the drivers, a man and a woman, before they were stabilised and transported to hospital.
“Paramedics found a baby believed to be less than a month old had also been involved in the collision and unfortunately suffered major fatal injuries and was declared deceased on the scene,” he said.
In a separate incident on Friday morning, a woman in her twenties was killed in a head-on collision on the M4 Northern Freeway near the Broadway off-ramp in Durban North.
Paramedics found four occupants across two vehicles, all of whom sustained injuries. Two occupants in one of the vehicles were trapped in the wreckage with critical injuries.
“The passenger, a female believed to be in her twenties, had sustained multiple injuries and there was nothing paramedics could do for her. She was declared deceased on scene,” Jamieson said.
The driver of the same vehicle was stabilised before being transported to hospital in a critical condition, while two occupants from the second vehicle sustained moderate injuries and were also taken for further medical care.
On Thursday afternoon, a man in his thirties was left critically injured after a single-vehicle crash on the N3 Durban-bound before the Shongweni off-ramp.
According to ALS Paramedics, the vehicle transporting wood lost control and rolled multiple times before coming to rest on the centre median.
The driver was stabilised on the scene by advanced life support paramedics before being taken to hospital, while a second occupant escaped without injury.
The causes of all three crashes remain unknown at this stage. Police and metro authorities were on scene in each case and are investigating the circumstances leading up to the incidents.