Story By: Lee Bullen,Sub Editor: Joseph Golder,Agency: Central European News 

Video Credit:CEN

This is the moment a taxi minibus is swept into a flooded river with passengers inside following a period of heavy rainfall.

The incident was filmed on Barnsley Road next to the Msunduzi River in Camps Drift near the city of Pietermaritzburg located in the eastern South African province of KwaZulu-Natal.

ER24 spokesperson Ross Campbell told local media: “Flash flooding from the heavy rain in the area meant the normally calm stream had burst over the top of the bridge, taking the taxi with it.

“Luckily, a series of concrete bollards caught the vehicle before it dropped further over into the deeper water.”

Campbell said that two men climbed to safety when the vehicle was trapped against the bollards while the other two, a man and a woman, were trapped inside.

The spokesperson added: “By the time ER24 were on the scene just before 6pm, search and rescue [South African Police Service] had managed to pull the two others from the reeds further down the river.”

All four occupants were treated on the scene for minor injuries. The woman had been in the water for the longest period of time and was suffering from signs of hypothermia so she was taken to the Edendale Hospital for medical treatment, according to reports.

Firefighters and officers from the South African Police Service also attended the scene.

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