South Africa bus crash kills at least 20 schoolchildren

A minibus collided with a truck and exploded in a ball of fire, a rescue official said.

A driver and 20 school children were killed in South Africa when the minibus collided with a truck in Mpumalanga province on Friday.
TRT World and Agencies

A driver and 20 school children were killed in South Africa when the minibus collided with a truck in Mpumalanga province on Friday.

At least 20 children were killed in a bus crash outside the South African capital Pretoria on Friday, emergency services said, with many trapped inside the burning vehicle.

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.

"It is confirmed 20 children have been killed," said Meiring, adding several children were injured. The driver of the bus also died in the crash.

"Paramedics arrived on the scene to find the fire services already in attendance. The fire services had already extinguished the burning vehicle, which was found lying on its side."

Many children were trapped inside the bus and most of the fatalities were declared dead at the site of the accident.

"The children were treated for their injuries and provided with advanced life support interventions before they were transported to various hospitals in the area for further treatment," ER24 said in a statement.

The cause of the collision was not immediately known.

TRT World's Nafisa Latic reports.

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