Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Africa
AfricaNewsWorld

20 Children Are Killed When Their Minibus Hits Truck, Bursts Into Flame In South Africa

Posted byBy Associated Press | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

Images posted by the ER24 medical service on Twitter show the minibus smoking and twisted on its side next to the truck

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — 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.

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.

“If human behavior 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-percent increase over the same period last year, according to the country’s Road Traffic Management Corporation.

Independent journalism still matters.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top