Freak rains' death toll: 24 and rising

HEAVY downpours and hailstorms in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga have left at least 24 dead, with the death toll expected to rise.

Fourteen people, including three children, died when a bridge collapsed on the R65 between Ermelo and Lothair in Mpumalanga.

Ten others died because of flooding in KwaZulu-Natal on Monday night.

KwaZulu-Natal cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC Nomusa Dube said six people died when shacks collapsed in Chatsworth, Durban.

Two bodies were recovered in Umlazi, one in KwaDabeka and the other in Umzinto.

"There are more deaths that have been reported but we are still undergoing a process of verification. There is a possibility that the number may increase," she said.

Mpumalanga community safety spokesman Joseph Mabuza said the search for bodies on the R65 was complete. KwaZulu-Natal transport MEC Willies Mchunu said heavy downpours led to two road fatalities.

A 13-year-old boy died and five people were injured when a bakkie overturned on a bend on the P603 near Kokstad.

A person was killed and 10 injured on the N3 near the Shongweni offramp when two trucks and nine cars collided.

Heavy downpours battered the coastline from Ballito to Scottburgh, flooding houses and roads, causing mudslides and sinkholes, and knocking down trees.

A violent hailstorm ripped through Ladysmith in the Midlands, displacing at least 3500 families.

Four train workers were rescued in Amanzimtoti, south of Durban, after a cargo train was derailed and plunged into a river at 5am yesterday.

"The raging Amanzimtoti River has eroded the sand from under the tracks, causing the train to plunge several metres into the torrential waters," Netcare 911 spokesman Chris Botha said.

Nine homeless people sleeping under the M4 bridge in Umbilo were rescued after being trapped in the middle of the river by rising water.

"Rescue workers placed a rope rescue system from the top of the M4 bridge and hoisted the victims one by one to the top of the bridge, [from] where they were taken to safety."

While residents tried to mop up flooded homes, municipal workers unblocked pipes under main roads and cleared away debris from mudslides near several main roads where traffic was at a standstill.

South African Weather Service forecaster Stacy Colborne said the downpour was out of the ordinary.

She said a cut-off low pressure system was more usual in the winter.

"This system brings thunderstorms, hail, damaging wind and, in some instances snow," she said, adding that no heavy rainfall was expected in the next few days.