A group of primary school were treated for shock after the bakkie they were travelling in crashed into a tree outside Port Elizabeth’s City Hall on Wednesday morning.
The driver was arrested on charges of reckless and drunk driving. He was taken to Humewood police station.
The pupils – ranging from Grade R to Grade 5 and from Ed-U College and Urban Academy schools – were in the back of a white Isuzu bakkie going down Whites Road when‚ according the driver‚ the brakes failed.
One pupil was taken to hospital and another 10 were treated for shock.
The 43-year-old driver‚ from New Brighton‚ sustained minor facial injuries. He declined to comment.
The driver’s mother was in the passenger seat when the crash occurred. A tree in front of the City Hall was ripped out of the ground in the crash.
“We were going so fast and I was getting worried that we would not be able to stop. I was scared for the children in the back because I am a mother and these children are like my own‚” she said.
“He (the driver) did try to take control of the vehicle again but just couldn’t. I just feel so hurt because of the children.”
A traffic officer on the scene said the tree brought the bakkie to a safer stop.
“If the tree was not there‚ the bakkie would have gone right into the building (City Hall) which could have been fatal. Hitting the tree was his best option‚” he said.
– TMG Digital/The Herald
Primary school children injured as bakkie crashes outside PE City Hall
A group of primary school were treated for shock after the bakkie they were travelling in crashed into a tree outside Port Elizabeth’s City Hall on Wednesday morning.
The driver was arrested on charges of reckless and drunk driving. He was taken to Humewood police station.
The pupils – ranging from Grade R to Grade 5 and from Ed-U College and Urban Academy schools – were in the back of a white Isuzu bakkie going down Whites Road when‚ according the driver‚ the brakes failed.
One pupil was taken to hospital and another 10 were treated for shock.
The 43-year-old driver‚ from New Brighton‚ sustained minor facial injuries. He declined to comment.
The driver’s mother was in the passenger seat when the crash occurred. A tree in front of the City Hall was ripped out of the ground in the crash.
“We were going so fast and I was getting worried that we would not be able to stop. I was scared for the children in the back because I am a mother and these children are like my own‚” she said.
“He (the driver) did try to take control of the vehicle again but just couldn’t. I just feel so hurt because of the children.”
A traffic officer on the scene said the tree brought the bakkie to a safer stop.
“If the tree was not there‚ the bakkie would have gone right into the building (City Hall) which could have been fatal. Hitting the tree was his best option‚” he said.
– TMG Digital/The Herald
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