[imagesource:mikehutchings]

12 schoolchildren and their driver were killed in Gauteng on Wednesday when their minibus overturned and caught fire on a road in the province.

Tragically, the accident took place a day after schools reopened after the winter holidays.

AP News reports that a bakkie had slammed into the back of the minibus transporting the children, causing it to overturn and erupt into flames in the town of Merafong, west of Johannesburg.

Seven other children were injured in the horrible accident.

Gauteng education department spokesman Steve Mabona said 11 of the children who died attended Rocklands Primary School while the twelfth child went to Laerskool Blyvooruitsig in Carletonville.

Education and transport officials visited the scene of the crash and the injured children at a hospital in the nearby area of Carletonville, with the head of the Gauteng provincial government, Panyaza Lesufi, also visiting the injured children.

“The pupils’ transport was hit from behind by a bakkie, causing it to overturn and subsequently catch fire,” Mabona said, describing the crash as a “horrific accident.”

Thousands of schoolchildren in the country rely on private minibuses for transport to and from their schools, while many others rely on public transport, including municipal buses and taxis.

It is devastating when so many young lives are lost in one shot.

[source:apnews]