40 passengers were taken to hospital after being injured in a head-on collision between two minibus taxis in Soweto on Friday night.

Six of them, including the two taxi drivers, were critically hurt.

The two vehicles collided on a wet road in Meadowlands before bursting into flames.

The exact cause of the crash is being investigated.

Netcare 911’s Chris Botha said it was absolute carnage when paramedics arrived on the scene: “On impact we believe the taxis caught alight, and the people had to be pulled out of the vehicles, some by fellow commuters and some by by-standers. Paramedics battled to stabilise them all on scene."