Man dies as taxi rolls on Bay freeway

A MAN died and two others were seriously injured when the driver of a minibus taxi lost control of the vehicle, which rolled on Port Elizabeth's busy Settlers Freeway late yesterday afternoon.

Emergency workers closed off a few hundred metres of the freeway's inside lane close to the Mount Road off-ramp at about 6pm after the taxi hit a roadside barrier before rolling on to its side.

The two injured people were taken to hospital for treatment.

The taxi, which was headed northwards at the time, had only the three occupants on board.

No other vehicles were involved in the accident and its tyres were all intact, leaving emergency workers and tow truck drivers at the scene scratching their heads as to what had caused the accident.

Police spokeswoman Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg confirmed that one man had died in the accident and that police had opened a culpable homicide docket for investigation.

She said the identities of the dead man and the injured had not yet been released last night. - Shaun Gillham