[LADYSMITH] – One killed, fourteen injured following rear-end collision.

One person was killed and fourteen others injured this morning when a taxi rear-ended a bus on the Harrismith Road in Ladysmith, KwaZulu Natal.

ER24 paramedics, along with the Ladysmith Fire and EMS, arrived on the scene at 06h05 to find the taxi partially wedged beneath the rear of the bus. One person was found trapped inside the front of the taxi while fourteen others were found seated near the vehicle.

Fire Services had to use specialised rescue tools to free the patient from within the taxi. Once freed, medics found that the patient had already succumbed to their injuries. Nothing more could be done and the patient was declared dead by the Provincial EMS.

The fourteen other patients were assessed and found to have sustained injuries ranging from minor to serious.

The patients were treated for their injuries and the seriously injured provided with pain-relief medication before they were transported to nearby hospitals for further care.

Local authorities were on the scene for further investigations.