Port Elizabeth – Seven more people have died in two separate accidents in on Eastern Cape roads, taking the national death toll up to at least 19 at the start of the long weekend.

Earlier, News24 reported that at least 12 people died and 10 were injured on the roads across the country on Saturday.

READ: Horror on SA roads as long weekend gets underway

Provincial health department spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said four people had been killed when the minibus taxi they were travelling in collided with a truck roughly 30km outside Graaff-Reinet on Saturday morning.

Kupelo said of the 16 occupants in the taxi, one man and three women had been declared dead on arrival at the Midland Hospital. A fifth person was still in a critical condition.

Kupelo said in a separate incident, three people had died in an accident at Emaqhinebeni, outside Mthatha that took place at around 02:00 on Saturday morning. He said details regarding the accident were still unclear.

In another incident, a police van collided with an ambulance in Rosedale Street, Amalinda, East London.

“The police van skipped the robots resulting in a collision with an ambulance that was transporting a 5-year-old patient to Frere Hospital.

Kupelo said fortunately no one was seriously injured in the accident.