Twenty-four people were killed when a truck crashed into four minibus taxis and a car in Field's Hill, Pinetown, last night, paramedics said.
About 80 people were thought to have been injured, according to Netcare 911's spokesman, Chris Botha.
Seven of them were critically injured and eight other seriously hurt.
Eleven people had minor injuries. They were all taken to the Khan and Inkosi Albert Luthuli hospitals.
A reporter on the scene said bodies, some covered in silver blankets, lay strewn across the road.
Rescuers used the jaws-of-life to free some of the passengers from the wreckages. Bystanders helped the paramedics by holding drip bags for some of the injured.
It is believed that the accident took place after the truck's brakes failed.
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