Durban – At least eight passengers escaped serious injury when they made the decision to jump out of a moving minibus taxi travelling on Pricklepear Road in Waterloo, north of Durban, after it burst into flames on Thursday.
According to Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) spokesperson Prem Balram, Rusa received multiple calls from the public from 6.27am reporting that there was a vehicle on fire.
Balram said when reaction officers arrived at the scene, they discovered a minibus taxi engulfed in flames.
“A passenger informed Reaction Officers that they noticed smoke entering the vehicle before it burst into flames.
“They forced the sliding door open and disembarked from the vehicle while it was in motion,”he said.
He said reports from the scene indicated that a leaking fuel pipe was suspected to be the cause of the fire.
Balram said a female passenger sustained soft tissue injury during the incident but declined medical intervention.
“The blaze was extinguished on arrival of the Ethekwini Fire Department,” he said.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident, Rusa reported that three people were injured in a collision at the Todd and Ireland Street intersection in the Verulam CBD on Thursday morning.
“Members of Reaction Unit South Africa arrived on scene at approximately 7:23am. It was established that a yellow Toyota Hiace taxi and a blue VW Golf collided at the intersection. Three passengers from the mini bus suffered minor injuries and were treated on scene by Emergency Medical Services (EMS),”said Balram.
