Image: Twitter

The chopper was carrying the specialised Ecmo intensive care rapid transfer team en-route to transport a critically ill patient from Hilton near Pietermaritzburg to Netcare Milpark in Johannesburg.

“Our deepest sympathies are with the families, loved ones and colleagues of Dr Kgopotso Rudolph Mononyane, an anaesthetist, Dr Curnick Siyabonga (Sia) Mahlangu a cardiothoracic surgeon and Mpho Xaba, a specialist theatre nurse for cardiothoracic and transplant, all from Netcare Milpark Hospital; Sinjin Joshua Farrance, an advanced life support paramedic at Netcare 911, as well as the pilot of the helicopter, Mark Stoxreiter who worked for National Airways Corporation," said Dr Richard Friedland, CEO, Netcare.

“There are no words adequate to describe our sense of enormous loss and grief at this terrible time. On behalf of Netcare and Netcare 911 management and staff, I would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the families of our colleagues. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this most difficult time,” said Craig Grindell, managing director of Netcare 911.

The cause of the crash is unknown, although an unconfirmed eyewitness report said the "exploded" in the air. The South African Civil Aviation Authority has dispatched a team to the scene to investigate.

Health care workers paying tribute to their fallen colleagues at Milpark Hospital in JHB. Two doctors, a nurse and a paramedic were killed when their helicopter crashed in KZN. Sad news. pic.twitter.com/m2ogxWJTZY

— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) January 21, 2021