JOHANNESBURG – A minibus carrying young students collided with a truck and burst into flames in South Africa on Friday, killing about 20 children.
The victims were between 5 and 10 years old, said Russel Meiring, a spokesman for paramedic company ER24. He said several children survived after being pulled from the wreckage near Bronkhorstspruit, east of the capital, Pretoria.
Images posted by ER24 on Twitter show the crumpled, smoking minibus on its side next to the truck.
![For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.](https://globalnews.ca/wp-content/themes/shaw-globalnews/images/skyline/national.jpg)
Get breaking National news
READ MORE: 1 dead, at least 7 sent to hospital after Greyhound bus accident near Quesnel
Authorities were investigating the cause of the crash. “We are trying to find out exactly what happened,” Meiring said.
Some students who were trapped in the minibus were burned beyond recognition, the News24 website reported. It quoted Johan Pieterse, spokesman for the EMS paramedic company.
Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi expressed condolences to the families of the dead. In an interview with the eNCA news outlet, he said many accidents occur because of reckless driving and that increasing the police presence on the roads would have limited results.
READ MORE: Motorcycle driver dies after crashing into back of Edmonton transit bus
“If human behaviour doesn’t change, there isn’t much that police can do,” he said.
A total of 235 people died in accidents on South Africa’s roads during the recent Easter period, a 51 per cent increase over the same period last year, according to the country’s Road Traffic Management Corporation.
- L.A. woman sentenced to 12 years in Russian prison for $50 Ukraine donation
- Disney wants wrongful death lawsuit tossed due to widower’s Disney+ trial
- Kamala Harris vows to lower food prices, build more homes in 1st economic speech
- U.S. Supreme Court denies Biden request to enforce LGBTQ2 student protections
Comments