At least 11 dead in South Africa in latest crash involving a minibus taxi

At least 11 people, including a schoolchild, died in a head-on collision between a truck and a minibus taxi along a highway just south of the South African city of Durban early on Thursday morning.

Some eight others sustained serious injuries and are receiving urgent medical care at nearby hospitals.

Officials said preliminary witnesses report suggest that the truck driver was making a U-turn on the road when the accident occurred.

Local media are reporting that an initial inspection by law enforcement officers found that the truck had worn-out tyres.

In addition, the taxi driver’s licence reportedly expired several years ago and the vehicle is believed to have been overloaded.

He was extracted from the wreckage and is in hospital with critical injuries. The truck driver also survived. Both are under police guard.

The provincial transport department is calling for both men to be charged with multiple murders.

This latest crash comes just a week after a similar incident in Johannesburg in which 14 schoolchildren died.

That driver was arrested and charged with 14 counts of murder after the authorities alleged he was driving recklessly by overtaking a line of vehicles before crashing into a truck.

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy on Thursday expressed “serious concerns” about the constant rise in traffic fatalities caused by crashes involving public transportation.

Minibus taxis are used by an estimated 70 per cent of South Africans to get to and from work each day.