Taxi collides with SAPS truck transporting prisoners to hospital

[caption id="attachment_223262" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Truck collides with a taxi
Picture: Supplied[/caption]

A police truck was involved in an accident on Friday morning while transporting prisoners in Mitchells Plain on the Cape Flats.

The truck collided with a taxi.

ER24 spokesman Russel Meiring said about 59 people had sustained injuries.

ER24 paramedics along with other emergency medical services personnel were on the scene shortly after 9am.

Prisoners and commuters were "found lying all around the scene''.

"Local authorities began to close off the road while paramedics set up a triage area‚'' said Meiring.

"Paramedics began assessing the patients‚ finding that their injuries ranged from minor to moderate. Fortunately‚ no fatalities were found on the scene. The patients were treated for their injuries and were thereafter transported by various services to nearby hospitals for urgent treatment."

City officials said Spine Road‚ between Merrydale and Park Roads‚ had been closed as a result.

Western Cape police spokesman‚ Lieutenant Colonel Andrè Traut‚ said the circumstances surrounding the accident are being investigated.

"Two police officers and 43 prisoners were transported to hospital for treatment. The conditions of the taxi occupants is yet to be determined‚'' said Traut.

Rescue personnel are still on the scene.