At
least 20 children were killed in a bus crash outside the South African capital
Pretoria on Friday, emergency services said, as paramedics treated the injured
at the scene.
The
minibus collided with a truck on a road between the towns of Bronkhorstspruit
and Verena, about 70 kilometres (45 miles) from Pretoria.
“It
is confirmed 20 children have been killed,” Russel Meiring, spokesman for the
ER24 emergency medical service, told AFP.
“Paramedics
arrived on the scene to find the fire services already in attendance. The fire
services had already extinguished the burning vehicle, which was found lying on
its side.”
Many
children were trapped inside the bus and most of the fatalities were declared
dead at the site of the accident.
Several
other children were injured, with reports that some of them were dragged from
the wreckage by people at the scene.
“The
children were treated for their injuries and provided with advanced life
support interventions before they were transported to various hospitals in the
area for further treatment,” ER24 said in a statement.
The
cause of the collision was not immediately known.
- AFP
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