Five people died on Saturday when three vehicles collided on Baden Powell Drive on the R102 bridge in Cape Town, paramedics said.

"Three people in a Toyota Corolla and two people from a Mazda were dead on arrival of emergency services," said ER24 spokesman Tristan Wadeley in a statement.

Three others, one from the third vehicle, were seriously injured and taken to nearby hospitals.

The R102 was closed as police investigated the circumstances around the collision, Wadeley said.