Sixteen high school children and a taxi driver have sustained injuries after the vehicle they were travelling in rolled down a 40m embankment off a side road in Wyebank just outside Pinetown this afternoon.
ER24 Advanced life support paramedic from the upper Highway area rushed to the scene and found the taxi lying on its roof at the bottom of the embankment. The pupils and the driver were found scattered all around the scene. Emergency personnel started to assess the patients and found that ten pupils had sustained serious injuries.
Their injuries raged from possible broken bones and also neck and back injuries. Specialised equipment was used to help stabilise the pupils before they were taken up the embankment. The remaining seven patients including the driver sustained minor injuries. All patients were treated on the scene and transported to various hospitals in the greater Durban area for further medical care.
It is believed that the driver may have had mechanical problems, which caused him to lose control in the bend. The taxi then veered off the road and down the embankment. It is believed that the pupils were ejected from the taxi as it rolled down the embankment.
Derrick Banks
ER24