South Africa: Minibus Taxi Collides Head-On With Truck, Killing 7

[News_Editor]

South Africa: Minibus taxi collides head-on with truck, killing 7 < br />

2012-07-05 20:58:26 GMT+7 (ICT)

KROONSTAD, SOUTH AFRICA (BNO NEWS) -- A minibus taxi and a truck collided head-on in the central region of South Africa on early Wednesday morning, killing seven people and injuring more than a dozen others, emergency officials said on Thursday.

Netcare 911 spokesman Jeffrey Wicks said the accident happened in the Free State on the Steynsrus road outside Kroonstad, a large town approximately 170 kilometers (105 miles) southwest of Johannesburg. The minibus taxi was carrying at least 24 people.

"Common cause information suggests that an errant party had veered from their allocated lane and pushed into oncoming traffic," Wicks said, without clarifying whether it was the minibus or the truck which veered from its allocated lane. No other vehicle were involved in the accident.

Six occupants of the minibus died at the scene of the accident, while eighteen other passengers were treated and stabilized at the scene before being transported by ambulance to the Boitumelo State Hospital. "Sadly another man succumbed to his injuries shortly after arrival," Wicks said.

Despite good infrastructure, roads in South Africa are considered to be among the world's most dangerous, with more than 13,000 people killed every year. Many accidents are attributed to reckless driving and the poor maintenance of buses and taxis.

Late last month, nineteen people were killed and 55 others were injured when a passenger bus plunged off a bridge in the small town of Meyerton, located in the Sediben Distict of Gauteng Province, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) south of Johannesburg. Survivors of the accident claimed the driver was speeding.

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