At least 11 people, including a schoolchild, were killed when a minibus taxi and a truck collided near Durban in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province on Thursday, authorities and emergency services said. Several others, including the minibus driver, were critically injured and trapped in the wreckage.
Provincial transport official Siboniso Duma said the casualty count was preliminary. “Witnesses have alleged that the truck driver made a U-turn resulting in a head-on collision,” he said.
Garrith Jamieson, spokesperson for ALS Paramedics, confirmed the fatalities and serious injuries, highlighting the severity of the crash.
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The tragedy comes just over a week after another fatal collision in Johannesburg on January 19 left 14 schoolchildren dead. In that incident, authorities said the minibus driver was overtaking a line of vehicles when it collided with a truck. The 22-year-old driver was arrested and initially charged with an offense akin to manslaughter, but prosecutors later upgraded the charges to 14 counts of murder.
South Africa’s Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, expressed alarm over the persistent rise in traffic deaths linked to public transport. She instructed the Road Traffic Management Corporation to work with local authorities to investigate Thursday’s crash. Creecy said a preliminary report from the inquiry is expected within 48 hours.
Minibus taxis serve as the main mode of public transport for many South Africans, carrying an estimated 70% of commuters.
Road safety remains a critical concern across Africa. The continent records roughly 300,000 road fatalities annually, about a quarter of the global total, despite housing just 3% of the world’s vehicles, AP reported. Africa has the world’s highest traffic fatality rate at 26.6 deaths per 100,000 people, compared with the global average of 18, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
