Seven schoolchildren and their driver were killed in a head-on collision with a truck on Friday in South Africa, authorities said, the latest accident in a series of deadly road accidents.
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The vehicle carrying the students crashed into a truck on a road about 100 km northeast of Durban early Friday, emergency services and the government said.
The seven students and their driver were killed, emergency services spokesperson Samantha Meyrick told AFP. The driver of the truck is in critical condition, she said.
According to the local government in KwaZulu-Natal province, the driver of the school vehicle lost control and collided with the truck traveling in the opposite lane.
South Africa has one of the most developed road networks on the continent but also has one of the worst road safety records, due in particular to the poor condition of vehicles and reckless driving by motorists.
More than 6,400 people were killed on South African roads in 2019, according to a report released this year by the government statistics office.
In July, 12 children and their driver were killed when their minibus collided with another vehicle.
In August, six children were killed in an accident between a freight train and their school bus, about 180 km northeast of Johannesburg.