Mpumalanga crash claims 6 learners’ lives: Transport Dept wants scholar transport safety prioritised

JOHANNESBURG - The death toll has risen to six in a crash involving a scholar bus and a train in Mpumalanga.

The Community Safety Department said the bus was coming from school carrying 30 children and their driver on Wednesday.

“The sixth learner who was receiving treatment at the hospital passed on after succumbing to the injuries. Twenty other learners sustained injuries ranging from serious to slight, and they were all rushed to the nearby hospital - where the sixth learner died,” said department's spokesperson Moeti Mmusi.

He added the bus driver was recovering in hospital.

It's understood the bus they were travelling in from school collided with a train in Middelburg.

Eyewitnesses said the bus crossed the railway line while the train was approaching.

Police and traffic officials are investigating the cause of the accident.

Deputy Minister of Transport Mkhuleko Hlengwa is set to conduct a site visit where the children lost their lives.

Hlengwa will be accompanied by the provincial transport department's officials along with the road traffic management.

The Department of Transport has made a call for the safety of schoolchildren to be prioritised.