One person has died and upwards of 20 people have been injured after two taxis and a car collided on the R55 between Maxwell Drive and Shakespeare Road, in Waterfall – north of Johannesburg.
At 15:16 EMER-G-MED’s RV1, RV2, RV5, RV6, M05, A01, A08 and A09 as well as multiple other services were dispatched to the horrific scene.
Paramedics arrived on the scene to find that a car and one taxi had collided head-on and were still stuck together – a second taxi had also been involved.
Unfortunately on assessment paramedics found that the driver of the car had sadly sustained multiple fatal injuries. Nothing further could be done and the driver was declared dead on the scene.
Multiple occupants of the taxi were critically injured and some were heavily entrapped within the wreckage. Advanced Life Support paramedics worked effortlessly to stabilise them, while the City of Johannesburg Fire Department used the “jaws of life” and other specialist rescue equipment to cut them free from the wreckage.
Due to the number of critically injured patients the Netcare911 Aeromedical Helicopter was called to the scene.
A total of fourteen patients required Advanced Life Support interventions, eight of which were in a critical condition.
Once stabilised two of the critical patients were airlifted to a specialist Level 1 trauma hospital in central Johannesburg. The remaining patients were transported by road to various hospitals, most under Advanced Life Support care.
The exact events leading up to the collision are unclear, and will be under investigation by JMPD’s specialist Accident Investigation Unit.
