11 dead in minibus and truck collision in South Africa

Thursday’s early morning crash happened near the city of Durban in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province. Provincial transport department official Siboniso Duma said in a statement that 11 people including a schoolchild died at the scene, although that was according to preliminary information.

“Witnesses have alleged that the truck driver made a U-turn resulting in a head-on collision,” Duma said, adding there would be an investigation into the crash by metropolitan and national police.

Garrith Jamieson, spokesperson for the private paramedic service ALS Paramedics, told The Associated Press from the scene that 11 were dead and seven people were critically injured, including the driver of the minibus, who was trapped in the wreckage. Emergency personnel were trying to free him, Jamieson said.