A bus driver is facing charges of culpable homicide after nine passengers on a bus died when the vehicle smashed into a bridge near Mqutu, near Dundee in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday.
Seven people were critically injured — of whom two have died — and 18 were seriously injured — including the driver.
Twenty-eight more passengers suffered minor injuries said Colin Govender of the KZN Road Traffic Inspectorate on Sunday.
He said seven people died at the scene, about 15km from Mqutu. Two were children, aged between five and seven. Two more passengers died in hospital.
Govender said the driver, who was seriously injured, faces a charge of reckless or negligent driving.
The passengers were on their way home to Greytown after a wedding at Mondlo when the driver apparently failed to stop the bus at a stop sign. The bus then smashed into the bridge.
Police have taken blood samples from the driver.
KZN transport and safety MEC Bheki Cele visited the injured in Dundee and Mqutu hospitals on Sunday and ordered a ”full and thorough investigation,” Govender said.
He said technical experts would on Monday inspect the wreck of the bus to determine if there were any other causes for the fatal crash. – Sapa