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11 killed in South Africa minibus-truck crash, days after similar accident killed 14 children
A collision between a minibus taxi and a truck in South Africa killed at least 11 people on Thursday, officials said, coming just days after a similar crash claimed the lives of 14 schoolchildren.
The crash occurred near Durban in the KwaZulu-Natal province. Provincial transport official Siboniso Duma said preliminary reports indicate that 11 people, including a schoolchild, died at the scene. Witnesses alleged that the truck driver made a U-turn, causing a head-on collision.
ALS Paramedics spokesperson Garrith Jamieson confirmed the fatalities and said several others were critically injured, including the minibus driver, who was trapped in the wreckage.
The deadly accident follows a Jan. 19 crash near Johannesburg, in which a minibus transporting schoolchildren collided with a truck. The 22-year-old minibus driver was arrested and initially charged with a manslaughter-type offense; prosecutors later upgraded the charges to 14 counts of murder, citing reckless driving while overtaking a line of vehicles.
South African Transport Minister Barbara Creecy expressed serious concern over the rising number of traffic fatalities involving public transport. She instructed the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) to work with local authorities to investigate the latest crash. A preliminary report is expected within 48 hours of the inquiry’s start.
Minibus taxis serve as the primary mode of public transport for roughly 70% of South African commuters. Road safety remains a significant challenge across Africa, where traffic accidents claim around 300,000 lives annually. The continent has the highest road traffic fatality rate in the world, at 26.6 deaths per 100,000 people, despite accounting for only about 3% of the global vehicle population.
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