13 Schoolchildren Die in South Africa Bus Crash

Thirteen schoolchildren died on Monday morning when the minibus transporting them to school collided head-on with a truck near Vanderbijlpark, an industrial city about 60 kilometers south of Johannesburg, South African authorities reported. The crash occurred during the morning school run on a narrow road known for heavy truck traffic, leaving several other pupils hospitalized with serious injuries.

Police investigators believe the minibus driver lost control while attempting to overtake multiple vehicles, veering into the oncoming lane and striking the truck. One child who was critically injured at the scene later succumbed to wounds in the hospital, raising the death toll from an initial count of 12. The victims included both primary and secondary school students, some as young as six years old. Emergency services responded promptly, and five other children were rushed to nearby hospitals for urgent care.

Distraught parents gathered at the crash site, where the mangled minibus came to rest on the roadside. Some collapsed in grief upon identifying the bodies behind police barriers. Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane visited the scene and revealed that the driver had received...