A minibus-taxi and a bakkie were involved in a head-on collision that claimed the lives of two people on Tuesday morning.
Two people, one of them a taxi driver, are in a critical condition at the Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital following an accident this morning that claimed the lives of two people.
The injured parties, who sustained multiple trauma injuries, were rushed to hospital by Emer-G-Med following the collision between a taxi and a bakkie on Barkly Road, close to Homelite in Kimberley.
The 42-year-old male driver of the bakkie, and a 52-year-old passenger in the taxi, were declared dead on the scene by emergency medical personnel.
Emergency workers had to use the jaws of life to free the passengers trapped in the taxi. Bystanders said it took an hour to free the victims from the wreckage and the road was closed to traffic for around 90 minutes.
The taxi belongs to the Barkly West Taxi Association and both the driver and the owner live in Delportshoop.
Initial reports suggest that the taxi driver was on his daily route and had just dropped off passengers from Delportshoop. On his way back to Delportshoop, on the Barkly West road, he collided with the bakkie that was travelling towards Kimberley at the time.
Police spokesperson, Captain Sergio Kock, said the Kimberley police were investigating a case of culpable homicide after the white Toyota bakkie and white minibus -taxi collided.
Kock said the accident happened around 9am on Tuesday.
He confirmed that the male taxi driver and one female passenger were transported to the hospital for medical attention.
