The death toll in an early morning crash in Mpumalanga continues to climb after an accident involving two taxis and a truck in Machadodorp near Badplaas on Tuesday.
By midday‚ officials of the Mpumalanga Department of Community Safety had revised the death toll to 18.
"The drivers of the two minibuses have died. It is just the truck driver who survived‚" said community safety spokesperson Joseph Mabuza.
Over a dozen people were reportedly injured in the incident.
It is understood that a minibus taxi first collided head-on with the truck.
Another taxi then rammed into the taxi that had initially struck the truck.
"The two taxis were commuting mine workers at the local mine‚ Nkomati‚” Mabuza said.
The injured were transported to the Belfast Hospital‚ while one was airlifted to a hospital in Mpumalanga.
Rescue efforts proved complex as officials reported that some of the deceased were still trapped in the vehicles at around 9am‚ almost three hours after the crash.
Shortly before 1pm‚ Mabuza said officials were now trying to recover the truck‚ which had veered off the road.
- TimesLIVE
