Truck congestion around the Durban port is making it difficult for paramedics to respond to emergencies in the area.
ALS Paramedics director Garrith Jamieson said in a statement that the firm’s teams had been finding it “extremely difficult” to respond to emergencies in the Bluff and harbour area since Monday. It is unclear at this stage what has caused the truck congestion on the roads.
“Trucks are stacked all the way around the port, and this is causing major traffic jams. All entries towards the Bluff are obstructed by trucks occupying all the available lanes. This morning ALS Paramedics battled to get to a scene where a security official was injured in a shooting scene,” Jamieson said.
“Paramedics responding to the incident had to drive into oncoming traffic to try and get to the scene. This places our staff as well as all road users at risk of injury,” he said.
The following routes are severely affected: Umbilo Arterial both directions from Bayhead Road to M7, Sydney Road from Moore Road, Bayhead Road, Maydon Road from Moore Road (on-ramp to M4 Southern freeway jammed closed), M7 Edwin Swales from Wakesleigh Road to Bluff Road, and Umbilo Road from M7 to Rick Turner Road
“Numerous calls have been made to authorities who are trying to assist. We encourage a resolution as people’s lives are at risk if paramedics can’t get to them in time,” he said.
Transnet had not responded to questions regarding the cause of the congestion at the time of publication.
