Durban – A man was killed and three others injured after a car hit a tree in Phoenix near Durban on Friday, KwaZulu-Natal paramedics said.

Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said it was unclear how the accident happened.

When they arrived on the scene, paramedics found that a man had died and some people were trapped in the wreckage, Botha said.

“[A] critically injured man was placed on a ventilator at the scene and …transported to the Nkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital for specialised care that he required,” Botha said in a statement.

Two seriously injured patients were stabilised before taken to a nearby hospital.

Botha said police would investigate the cause of the accident.

– SAPA