School Bus Accident Kills 12 Children In South Africa

Thirteen people, 12 of them children and the driver, died when a school transport minibus collided with another vehicle in the early hours of today in South Africa, the Gauteng provincial government announced.

Seven other children were injured and taken to hospital after the accident, which occurred when the minibus overturned and caught fire after colliding with another vehicle, according to a statement from the government of Gauteng province, the country's most populous and which includes Johannesburg. and Pretoria.

The ages of the children were not immediately released. The bus was carrying primary school children, typically aged between 6 and 13.

Television footage showed the minibus completely destroyed by fire, and burnt school supplies strewn across the road at the crash site, about 70 kilometers west of the town of Merafong.

The local government announced in a statement that "a private transport minibus was involved in a tragic accident in the Kokosi-Wedela region, near Merafong, which claimed the lives of 12 students and its driver."

Gauteng Provincial Education Minister Matome Chiloane, quoted in the statement, said he was "deeply saddened by this tragic event".

"The loss of our children is a terrible blow to our community, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the deceased and injured students," he added.

South Africa has one of the most developed road networks on the continent, but is one of the worst performing countries when it comes to road safety.

In May, 13 people died in a collision between a mini-taxi and a truck on one of the main roads in the Limpopo region (North).

In March, just before the Easter weekend, almost all of the passengers on a bus traveling from Botswana to the northern pilgrimage town of Moria - 45 people - were killed when the vehicle plunged from a bridge near Mmamatlakala. , in the same province of Limpopo. This accident was the deadliest of the year in South Africa.

In February, at least nine supporters of the African National Congress, the country's main political party, died in a bus accident after taking part in an election rally in the east of the country.