A horrific commuter omnibus accident in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal Province claimed 12 lives on Saturday and left the vehicle torn to pieces as if it were made of cardboard.
According to emergency services in the town of Underberg, three other people in the vehicle were injured and taken to nearby hospitals for medical attention.
While details of the events leading to the mishap remained sketchy, the fatal accident took place after the taxi turned over multiple times down an embankment, throwing passengers out before it rolled to a stop, the emergency services said.
South African drivers, especially those ferrying long-distance passengers in minibuses, known as taxis, are notorious for driving while drunk or over-speeding and are responsible for many head-on collisions, thereby claiming hundreds of lives annually on the highways.
Meanwhile, the country’s modern rail shuttle known as the Gautrain, is expected to resume limited service on Sunday following Saturday’s suspension due to disagreements between workers and management over a pay rise.
The workers stopped the service on Saturday in protest over failed talks between the Gautrain operator Bombela and the workers’ union.
Bombela offered a four percent pay hike to the workers, who are demanding an eight percent salary increase instead.
Gautrain was inaugurated weeks ahead of Africa’s first ever FIFA World Cup that South Africa successfully hosted in 2010, and it plies between Johannesburg’s OR Tambo Airport and the city’s upmarket suburb of Sandton.
NM/jn/APA