Soweto passengers lucky to survive burning taxi as worker pulls them out

A passenger in the front seat had to be hauled out of a burning taxi through the driver's shattered window on the Soweto Golden Highway, near Booysens, on Wednesday morning.

An eyewitness told this to TimesLIVE shortly after the incident.

Construction worker Bruce Khonte said: "I first heard the taxi making a weird sound and driving at a very high speed … Then it stopped and fell on its side. My colleague and I ran towards it and more people started coming.

"We were able to get it back on to its wheels, but it started burning from the back, just before all the people could get out," he said.

Khonte said the taxi was carrying about 10 passengers but only one, the passenger in the front seat, was badly injured.

"It was bad. Her leg was bleeding and her hand was injured," he said. "The taxi was almost full when we were getting people out of it. Some were temporarily trapped. We could see only their feet," he said.

The cause of the fire was unclear.

When TimesLIVE visited the scene, the taxi was completely burnt out.  Only its scorched metal frame remained.

A wig, umbrella and three scones in a plastic bag were all that was left.

The taxi was reportedly transporting passengers from Meadowlands to the Johannesburg CBD. 

A son of the taxi owner, who was at the scene, refused to comment, except to say: "We’re still busy. We are stressed, I can't say anything because we were not here when it happened, but the taxi was fine yesterday."

Meanwhile, an elderly woman said the incident happened metres from where she was crossing the road. 

"I was so shocked. The car was making a noise, but I could also hear a woman screaming. I ran and stood a distance away because I was scared and there was nothing I could do. I'm an old person with high blood pressure," she said. 

The association to which the taxi is said to belong could not be reached for comment at the time of publishing.