Vuyolwethu Sangotsha

Vuyolwethu Sangotsha

Nineteen pupils sustained injuries after a bakkie transporting them to school overturned between Bizana and Kokstad yesterday afternoon.

Provincial Arrive Alive spokesman Tshepo Machaea said the pupils were on their way from Dumse Village to Sithukuthezi High School when the accident occurred on the R61.

Two other people who were not pupils but were in the bakkie, suffered injuries as well. This takes the total number of passengers to 21.

"The driver apparently lost control and the overloaded bakkie overturned," he said.

Machaea added that it seemed that the driver, suspected to be inexperienced by traffic officials, was speeding.

He said they were still trying to establish whether the driver had a driver's licence. Machaea said those who sustained injuries were rushed to Mount Ayliff Hospital.

"I am still unable to get the exact number of people who got injured in this accident," Machaea added.

This accident was the second involving pupils in the province in the past two days.

The other accident occurred on Monday in Port Elizabeth where six primary school children died after a horror smash, which was also allegedly caused by overloading and speeding.

The driver of the vehicle that claimed the lives of pupils in Port Elizabeth has been charged with six counts of culpable homicide.