Officials have reported that Twelve school children and the driver were killed in South Africa on Wednesday when their minibus overturned and caught fire on a road in Gauteng province.
The accident occurred a day after schools reopened following the winter holidays. Seven other children were injured in the crash, which happened in the town of Merafong, west of Johannesburg, the country’s economic hub.
Reports indicated that a small truck, known locally as a bakkie, collided with the back of the minibus transporting the children, causing it to overturn and burst into flames. Education and transport officials, along with Gauteng provincial government head, Panyaza Lesufi, visited the crash site and the injured children at a hospital in Carletonville.
Gauteng education department spokesman, Steve Mabona stated that 11 of the children who died attended Rocklands Primary School, while the twelfth child went to Laerskool Blyvooruitsig in Carletonville.
“The pupils’ transport was hit from behind by a bakkie, causing it to overturn and subsequently catch fire,” Mabona said, describing the incident as a “horrific accident.”
Thousands of schoolchildren in Gauteng depend on private minibuses for transportation to and from school. Many others rely on public transport, including municipal buses and taxis.
