27 children among dead in S. African crash

Wreckage from the five-vehicle crash

April 16, 1998
Web posted at: 11:49 a.m. EDT (1549 GMT)

NEWCASTLE, South Africa (CNN) -- Thirty-one people, including 27 children on a school bus, died in a five-vehicle crash in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal, South African police said Thursday. Many students were trapped after the bus plunged down a 50-yard (meter) embankment after the collision.

"I cannot put into words what a terrible accident this was," Police Capt. Godfrey Nyembe said. "There were young children crying for help, young children with gaping wounds. It was complete chaos. I have never seen anything as terrible."

At least 50 more people were injured in Wednesday afternoon's collision, many of them critically, officials said. Eighteen people died at the scene, and many of the injured suffered severed limbs.

The bus, carrying pupils as young as 6, collided with a horse and trailer, mini-bus, car and taxi on a stretch of open road outside Newcastle. Nyembe said police were investigating the cause of the wreck.

Rescuers remove a victim on a stretcher

Rescuers used hydraulic equipment to free many of the injured from the wreckage.

Rainy weather is thought to have played a role in the crash in an industrial area just outside Newcastle, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) southeast of Johannesburg.

Frantic parents searched hospitals and the city's mortuary Wednesday night looking for their children. A 7-year-old girl believed to have been on the bus was reported missing; rescue personnel said it was possible she may have wandered away from the scene of the accident due to shock.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Related sites:

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• SouthAfrica.net
• Main Street South Africa
• Mail & Guardian - South African newspaper

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