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Forty-five people, including the, driver were taken to nearby hospitals.
The bus carrying passengers from Katlehong to Pomona crashed on Tuesday morning near the OR Tambo International Airport. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen
The death toll in the Ekurhuleni municipal bus crash on the R21 highway has risen to 16.
The bus carrying passengers from Katlehong to Pomona crashed on Tuesday morning near the OR Tambo International Airport.
Forty-five people who were injured, including the driver, were taken to nearby hospitals.
The crash involved a passenger bus and a light motor vehicle, resulting in the bus driver losing control and the bus overturning.
Four lanes of the R21 highway were closed to traffic as emergency services attended to the scene.
Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services spokesperson William Ntladi confirmed that four more people have died in the hospital.
“Sixteen people have now died, but we are still going to investigate everything. Once the bus has been taken out, we’ll do a full mechanical investigation on both vehicles.”
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The Gauteng Department of Education confirmed that there were pupils who tragically lost their lives in the accident.
The deceased pupils include two Grade 1 and Grade 3 boy pupils, who are siblings from Tom Newby Primary School in Benoni, as well as a Grade 1 pupil from Rynfield Primary School, also in Benoni.
Additionally, another pupil in Grade 3 from Rynfield Primary School is in critical condition as a result of the accident and has been admitted to a local hospital for urgent medical care.
Gauteng MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane, will visit the families of the pupils who lost their lives on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy and her deputy, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, expressed concern over the spate of recent crashes involving passenger buses.
Creecy’s spokesperson, Collen Msibi, said the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has dispatched a crash investigation unit and law enforcement officials to determine the cause of the accident.
“The minister and deputy minister have called for heightened caution and vigilance on all motorists and road users to ensure they stay safe on the roads at all times.
“Minister Creecy and Deputy Minister Hlengwa have expressed and extended their sincere sympathies and condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives in the tragic crash, wishing the injured speedy recovery to good health,” Msibi said.
Earlier, the City of Ekurhuleni said the bus involved in the deadly crash was roadworthy.
City spokesperson Zweli Dlamini confirmed to eNCA that the municipality owns the bus, and that it had undergone safety testing and was recently issued a certificate of fitness.
“The bus is ours and belongs to the municipality. We have our own systems for checking the conditions of the buses. We want to understand what happened. We do not want to find ourselves in another tragic accident tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, the families of the victims have been flocking to local hospitals in hopes of identifying their loved ones.
Ekurhuleni Mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza said they have activated a disaster management centre which families can go to enquire about their family members.
The R21 has since been reopened to traffic following the crash.
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