05 November 2024

Pietermaritzburg - The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health wishes to inform the public that one of its Planned Patient Transport (PPT) buses from the uThukela Emergency Medical Rescue base caught fire on Monday near Cedara while transporting 52 patients. Fortunately, no patients were harmed in this incident.

Following the incident, all patients were safely evacuated and transferred to Grey's Hospital in the uMgungundlovu District using three (3) 22-seater buses.

The department subsequently dispatched additional transport, including a 22 and 35-seater PPT buses from the uThukela and uMgungundlovu EMS bases, to facilitate the patients' safe return to their destinations.

By midnight, all patients had been safely dropped off by EMS personnel in Estcourt, Ladysmith, Dundee and Vryheid.

The cause of this incident is currently under internal investigation by the department. We wish to reassure the public that this was an isolated incident, and our EMS PPT buses remain among the safest and are staffed by highly trained personnel.