Tears flow as 19 school kids and bus driver perish in South Africa crash

A driver and 19 school children were killed in South Africa when the minibus they were travelling in collided with a truck and exploded in a ball of fire in Mpumalanga province, emergency services said on Friday (April 21).

The vehicle was ferrying children from school when it collided with the truck between the towns of Verena and Bronkhorstpruit, northeast of the capital Pretoria, Russel Meiring, spokesman for ER24 emergency medical service said.

Several children were injured, he added. It was not clear what caused the collision, police said.

The aftermath at the #Bronkhorstspruit crash where several school children died. News24 pic.twitter.com/HwaPdsmIeY

— Iavan Pijoos (Iavan13) April 21, 2017

“The (minibus) was transporting learners from school and it collided with the truck and caught fire,” Mpumalanga police spokesman Gerald Sedibe said. He said the minibus driver was killed, while the truck driver survived.

Back at the school premises, parents and relatives of the children were in grief outside the school hall at the Sizakele Primary School. Paramedics had also been quoted as saying some of the kids had been burnt beyond recognition.

Even though it is Africa’s most industrialised economy with a modern road network, South Africa has a dire road safety record.

Road deaths rose to 235 during this year’s Easter weekend compared with 156 fatalities last year, transport officials said earlier on Friday.

Reuters
Photo Credit: Ivan Pijoos (@Iavan13) of News24