Victims of horror KZN taxi crash to be laid to rest

Thirteen people, including a child, who lost their lives in a horrific taxi crash in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands last week will be laid to rest on Saturday.

Provincial department of transport spokesperson Kwanele Ncalane said government officials met with the family of the deceased to help with funeral arrangements.

On Saturday night 12 people were killed instantly when the driver of a minibus taxi lost control and rolled down an embankment in Kilimon, near Underberg. The driver also died at the scene.

Four people were taken to hospital, where one person succumbed to their injuries the next day. 

All 13 deceased are members of the Mndali family. They are understood to have been returning home from a ceremony.

KwaZulu-Natal emergency services spokesperson Robert McKenzie said it was a single-vehicle crash.

Premier Sihle Zikalala and Cogta minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, together with community safety MEC Bheki Ntuli and social development MEC Nonhlanhla Khoza, visited the families on Sunday.

Dlamini-Zuma said: “It's an unusual accident in the sense that all the people who died belong to the same family. There are 13 of them who passed away and two are critical in hospital. So it is a real tragedy for the Mndali family.”

TimesLIVE