Paramedics were kept busy in the early hours of Tuesday as reports of collapsed houses were received from the Malvern, Overport and Chatsworth areas.

In Ellen Road, Malvern, four people – one of them a child - died when a muddy bank collapsed onto their home. Paramedics were at the scene for hours, despite being hampered by heavy winds and rain.

In West Road, Overport area, a 70-year-old woman was pulled from the rubble alive after being trapped for over two hours when her home collapsed. The woman’s son died.

“Her son, believed to be in his 20s, had sustained major injuries and there was nothing more paramedics could do for him. He was declared dead at the scene,” said Garrith Jamieson of Rescue Care.

“Multiple units have attended to different incidents [throughout the night],” said Jamieson.

Several calls had been received from the Chatsworth area where homes had also collapsed, he said.

The South African Weather Services (SAWS) issued a weather warning for the eThekwini area on Monday.  By the evening, disaster management teams had been activated.

Several roads in the south of the city were flooded or blocked by early Tuesday morning as the Umhlatuzana river burst its banks and flooded a bridge.

The intersection between Chiltern and Shallcross in the Chatsworth area was blocked with debris, the road outside Shallcross Stadium was blocked following a landslide and the Hans Dettman road past the Northdene robots was also blocked following a landslide.

The Higginson Highway was water logged in both directions.

African News Agency (ANA)