Independent Newspapers
Eight children died when this bus, ferrying pupils from Zamimpilo Special School, crashed near Ulundi. The disabled children had been at a sports event in Richards Bay.
Durban – The driver of the school bus that crashed, killing eight children and injuring 20 others including a teacher, near Ulundi on Tuesday, is in hospital under police guard and will be arrested when he has recovered.
The accident happened on the R66 between Ulundi and KwaCeza when the children were returning from a sports event in Richards Bay.
The children were from Zamimpilo Special School for mentally and physically disabled children.
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Zweli Mkhize on Wednesday expressed his devastation at the news of the accident and sent his condolences to the families of the victims. Nine pupils and a teacher were still receiving medical attention at KwaCeza Hospital, he said.
Transport spokesperson Kwanele Ncalane said police were investigating the accident, which apparently happened when the bus hit a rock.
The dead have been named as Nomusa Makhoba, Sakhile Magagula, Cebo Ndwandwe, Linda Biyela, Phumzile Zulu, Nosipho Zulu, Lungisani Fakude and Sbonelo Myeni. They were between eight and 18 years old.
The victims were mostly from Bonjeni, Nongoma, Ulundi and Ngwavuma.
Education MEC Senzo Mchunu abandoned meetings, which he was scheduled to attend in Durban on Wednesday, to visit the scene of the accident and the school to console teachers and pupils.
He also visited victims in Zululand hospitals.
A teacher, who did not want to be named, said staff and pupils were “very traumatised”.
“Parents are not here yet because they are from rural villages,” she said. There were 41 pupils in the bus.
Zululand district spokesperson Skhumbuzo Miya said he arrived at the scene at about 10am on Wednesday.
“It seems that victims sustained head injuries. This accident was horrible and it shocked me,” he said.
The accident happened three months after the provincial Education Department lifted a suspension on school trips, which it imposed last year.
This was after 27 pupils were killed in separate accidents during school trips last year.
Education spokesperson Muntu Lukhozi said the school trips suspension was lifted after the education and transport departments had completed their investigation to establish how these trips should be conducted.
“The investigators took a resolution trips should be strictly authorised by the department.
“It was also resolved that the Transport Department should check the condition of busses before they are used for school trips,” she said. – The Mercury
