Six pupils were killed when the bus they were travelling in overturned on the R70 Ventersburg-Senekal road in the Free State on Tuesday evening.
The accident involved 58 female pupils from Hoërskool Riebeeckstad who were returning from an all-girls sport event in Moolmanshoek near Rosendal to Riebeeckstad in Welkom.
The department of basic education said Senekal police confirmed the bus overturned after a wheel came loose and the driver lost control.
Six were declared dead on the scene, 40 sustained minor injuries, eight had moderate injuries and four were severely injured, the Free State premier’s office said.
“This tragedy struck as we were busy celebrating the success of the matric class of 2023. The deaths of those souls has robbed us of the future of our province. Words fail me and I can only imagine what the families are going through,” Free State premier Mxolisi Dukwana said.
Basic education minister Angie Motshekga said this was “not the kind of news a parent should expect” when their children go out on a school excursion.
“We hope that an investigation will shed light on what happened,” Motshekga said.
TimesLIVE
Six schoolgirls killed when bus overturns in Free State, 48 injured
Image: 123rf.com/Jaromír Chalabala
Six pupils were killed when the bus they were travelling in overturned on the R70 Ventersburg-Senekal road in the Free State on Tuesday evening.
The accident involved 58 female pupils from Hoërskool Riebeeckstad who were returning from an all-girls sport event in Moolmanshoek near Rosendal to Riebeeckstad in Welkom.
The department of basic education said Senekal police confirmed the bus overturned after a wheel came loose and the driver lost control.
Six were declared dead on the scene, 40 sustained minor injuries, eight had moderate injuries and four were severely injured, the Free State premier’s office said.
“This tragedy struck as we were busy celebrating the success of the matric class of 2023. The deaths of those souls has robbed us of the future of our province. Words fail me and I can only imagine what the families are going through,” Free State premier Mxolisi Dukwana said.
Basic education minister Angie Motshekga said this was “not the kind of news a parent should expect” when their children go out on a school excursion.
“We hope that an investigation will shed light on what happened,” Motshekga said.
TimesLIVE
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